January 20 – Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Trump, a Republican New York City businessman, becomes the first non–political office holder to be elected President of the United States.

January 21 – Millions of people worldwide join the Women's March in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States. 420 marches were reported in the U.S. and 168 in other countries, becoming the largest single-day protest in American history and the largest worldwide protest in recent history.

January 29 – A Quebec City mosque was the subject of a mass shooting. There were six deaths and numerous others injured.

February 11 – North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.

June 1 – Amidst widespread criticism, the U.S. announces its decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement in due time.

June 8 – In the midst of Brexit, a snap general election is held in the UK, three years before the next one was due, resulting in a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, losing their majority in Parliament. The Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, makes gains for the first time since 1997. Days later, the Conservative Party enters a confidence-and-supply deal with the Northern Irish DUP and Theresa May dismisses calls from the opposition for her to stand down.

June 12 – American student Otto Warmbier returns home in a coma after spending 17 months in a North Korean prison and dies a week later.

June 14 – A fire at Grenfell Tower in London kills 71 people.

July 1 – Canada celebrates the sesquicentennial anniversary of Canadian Confederation. July 4 – Russia and China urge North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear programs after it successfully tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

July 10 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

August 25–30 – Hurricane Harvey strikes the United States as a Category 4 hurricane, causing catastrophic damage to the Houston metropolitan area, mostly due to record-breaking floods. At least 90 deaths are recorded, and total damage reaches $198.6 billion (2017 USD), making Harvey the costliest natural disaster in United States history.

September 3 – North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

September 6–10 – The Caribbean and United States are struck by Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 hurricane that is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin outside the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The storm causes at least 134 deaths and at least $63 billion (2017 USD) in damage.

September 13 – The International Olympic Committee awards Paris and Los Angeles the right to host the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics, respectively.

September 15 – Cassini–Huygens ends its 13-year mission by plunging into Saturn, becoming the first spacecraft to enter the planet's atmosphere.

September 19 – Eleven days after another powerful earthquake, and on the 32nd anniversary of the deadly 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a Mw 7.1 earthquake strikes central Mexico, killing more than 350, leaving up to 6,000 injured and thousands more homeless.

September 19–20 – Just two weeks after Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean, Hurricane Maria strikes similar areas, making landfall on Dominica as a Category 5 hurricane, and Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane. Maria caused at least 94 deaths and damages estimated in excess of $103 billion (2017 USD).

September 25 – Iraqi Kurdistan votes in a referendum to become an independent state, in defiance of Iraq; by October 15, the crisis escalates into a short-lived armed conflict over disputed territories.

October 1 – Fifty-eight people are killed and 546 injured when Stephen Paddock opens fire on a crowd in Las Vegas, surpassing the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting as the deadliest mass shooting perpetrated by a lone gunman in U.S. history.

October 12 – The United States announces its decision to withdraw from UNESCO, and is immediately followed by Israel.

October 17 – Syrian Civil War: Raqqa is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

October 27 – Catalonia declares independence from Spain, but the Catalan Republic is not recognised by the Spanish government or any other sovereign nation.

November 15 – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is placed under house arrest, as the military take control of the country.[60] He resigns six days later, after 37 years of rule.

November 24 – A mosque attack in Sinai, Egypt kills 305 worshippers and leaves hundreds more wounded.

December 5 – Russia is banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang by the International Olympic Committee, following an investigation into state-sponsored doping.

December 6 – The United States officially recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital. December 14 – The Walt Disney Company announces that it will acquire most of 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox film studio, for $66 billion.

December 22 – The UN Security Council votes 15–0 in favor of additional sanctions on North Korea, including measures to slash the country's petroleum imports by up to 90%.

December 24 – Guatemala follows in the footsteps of the United States by announcing that they will also move their Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, followed by Honduras and Panama two days later.

2016
FHL President Stewart Indig
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

January 16 – The International Atomic Energy Agency announces that Iran has adequately dismantled its nuclear weapons program, allowing the United Nations to lift sanctions immediately.

January 28 – The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika virus. February 12 – Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill sign an Ecumenical Declaration in the first such meeting between leaders of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches since their split in 1054.

March 21 – Barack Obama, visits Cuba, marking the first time a sitting US president has visited the island nation since president Calvin Coolidge visited in 1928.

May 3–4 - The city of Fort McMurray, Alberta is fully evacuated due to a catastrophic wildfire that destroyed numerous structures.

June 23 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union. July 5 – NASA's Juno spacecraft enters orbit around Jupiter and begins a 20-month survey of the planet.

July 6 – Popular Mobile game Pokémon Go was released on smartphones, quickly making it the number one downloaded app. Pokémon Go users later ended up in car accidents, muggings, and other crimes and accidents worldwide.

July 15-16 – In Turkey, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organized themselves as the Peace at Home Council, unsuccessfully stages a coup against the state institutions, resulting in the deaths of at least two hundred and forty and the triggering of a series of unprecedented purges throughout the country.

July 22 – The final videocassette recorder is manufactured by the Japanese company Funai.

August 5–21 – The 2016 Summer Olympics are held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the first time in a South American nation.

September 3 – The US and China, together responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions, both formally joined the Paris global climate agreement.

September 9 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness".

November 2 - The Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908, ending the longest championship drought in American sports history.

November 8 – Businessman and television personality Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States as a Republican after running a campaign widely characterized as populist.

December 22 – A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70-100% effective, and thus making it the first proven vaccine against the disease.

December 23 – The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 2334 condemning "Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967".

2015
FHL President George Garten
Prime Ministers Stephen Harper / Justin Trudeau
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

January 15 - Target Corporation announces they will discontinue operations in Canada. Over 130 stores and over 17,000 workers are affected

April 29 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that rubella has been eradicated from the Americas.

June 2 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter announces his intention to resign amidst an FBI-led corruption investigation, and calls for an extraordinary congress to elect a new president as soon as possible.

July 14 – NASA's New Horizons spacecraft performs a close flyby of Pluto, becoming the first spacecraft in history to visit the distant world.

July 14 – Iran agrees to long-term limits of its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

July 20 – Cuba and the United States re-establish full diplomatic relations, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations.

September 28 – NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars.

October 19 - Justin Trudeau and the Liberals win the 2015 federal election, gaining a majority of seats in the House of Commons.

November 13 – Multiple terrorist attacks claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Paris, France, result in 130 fatalities.

November 24 – Syrian Civil War: Turkey shoots down a Russian fighter jet in the first case of a NATO member destroying a Russian aircraft since the 1950s.

November 30 – The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) is held in Paris, attended by leaders from 147 nations.

December 12 – A global climate change pact is agreed at the COP 21 summit, committing all countries to reduce carbon emissions for the first time.

2014
FHL Presidents Harvey Silver / George Garten
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne

February 7–23 – The XXII Olympic Winter Games are held in Sochi, Russia.

February 13 – Belgium becomes the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age.

February 22 – The Ukrainian parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest left around 100 people dead in Kiev, Ukraine.

March 21 – Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process. March 24 – During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8.

March 27 – The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 68/262, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.

April 10 – Former Finance Minister Jim Flaherty dies at age 64.

June 5 – A Sunni militant group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as the ISIS or ISIL) begins an offensive through northern Iraq, aiming to capture the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrow the Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

June 12 – July 13 – The 2014 FIFA World Cup is held in Brazil, and is won by Germany.

June 29 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declares itself a caliphate.

July 8 – August 26 – Amid growing tensions between Israel and Hamas following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July, Israel launches Operation Protective Edge against Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground offensive a week later. In seven weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis are killed.

September 18 – Scotland holds a referendum on whether to leave the United Kingdom, and a majority votes to remain part of the union.

September 22 – The United States and several Arab partners begin their airstrike campaign in Syria.

October 22 – In the shootings at Parliament Hill, a gunman shot a Canadian Forces soldier dead at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, then entered the Parliament buildings where he was killed by security forces. Ottawa's downtown core was put under lockdown during the search for a potential second shooter.

December 3 – The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launches the space explorer Hayabusa 2 from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year round trip mission to an asteroid to collect rock samples.

December 17 – U.S. President Barack Obama announces the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

2013
FHL President Ray Moscoe
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premiers: Dalton McGuinty / Kathleen Wynne

February 11 – Kathleen Wynne is sworn in as premier of Ontario, following a leadership election, becoming Ontario's first female premier and Canada's first openly gay premier.

February 12 – North Korea conducts its third underground nuclear test, prompting widespread condemnation and tightened economic sanctions from the international community.

February 15 – A meteor explodes over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 1,489-1,492 people and damaging over 4,300 buildings. It is the most powerful meteor to strike Earth's atmosphere in over a century.

February 28 – Benedict XVI resigns as pope, becoming the first to do so since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Celestine V in 1294. March 13 – Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected the 266th pope, whereupon he takes the name Francis and becomes the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.

March 27 – Canada becomes the first country to withdraw from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

April 15 – Two Chechen Islamist brothers explode two bombs at the Boston Marathon in Boston, killing 3 and injuring 264 others.

June 6 – Former CIA employee Edward Snowden discloses operations engaged in by a U.S. government mass surveillance program to news publications and flees the country, later being granted temporary asylum in Russia.

July 3 – Amid mass protests across Egypt, President Mohamed Morsi is deposed in a military coup d'état, leading to widespread violence.

October 18 – Saudi Arabia rejects a seat on the United Nations Security Council, making it the first country to reject a seat on the Security Council. Jordan takes the seat on December 6.

November 21 – Euromaidan pro-EU demonstrations begin in Ukraine after President Viktor Yanukovych rejects an economic association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine in favor of closer ties to Russia.

November 24 – Iran agrees to limit their nuclear development program in exchange for sanctions relief.

December 14 – Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 3, carrying the Yutu rover, becomes the first spacecraft to "soft"-land on the Moon since 1976 and the third robotic rover to do so.

2012
FHL President Ray Moscoe
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 23 – Iran–European Union relations: The European Union adopts an embargo against Iran in protest of its continued effort to enrich uranium.

February 6 – The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and the 60th anniversary of her becoming Head of the Commonwealth.

February 19 – Iran suspends oil exports to Britain and France, following sanctions put in place by the European Union and the United States in January.

March 13 – After 246 years since its first publication, the Encyclopædia Britannica discontinues its print edition.

May 12 – August 12 – The 2012 World Expo takes place in Yeosu, South Korea.

May 22 – Tokyo Skytree, the tallest self-supporting tower in the world at 634 metres high, is opened to the public.

July 27 – August 12 – The 2012 Summer Olympics are held in London, England, United Kingdom.

September 7 – Canada officially cuts diplomatic ties with Iran by closing its embassy in Tehran, and orders the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over support for Syria, nuclear plans and human rights abuses.

September 11–27 – A series of terrorist attacks are directed against United States diplomatic missions worldwide, as well as diplomatic missions of Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

November 14–21 – Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari. In the following week, 140 Palestinians and five Israelis are killed in an ensuing cycle of violence. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the weeklong escalation in hostilities in Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.

November 29 – The UN General Assembly approves a motion granting Palestine non-member observer state status.

December 8 – In Qatar, the UN Climate Change Conference agrees to extend the Kyoto Protocol until 2020.

2011
FHL President Ray Moscoe
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 4 – Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi dies after setting himself on fire a month earlier, sparking anti-government protests in Tunisia and later other Arab nations. These protests become known collectively as the Arab Spring.

February 11 – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his departure, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military until a general election can be held.

March 15 – Protests breakout across Syria demanding democratic reforms and the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. The government responds by killing hundreds of protesters and laying siege to various cities, beginning the Syrian Civil War.

March 25 – Stephen Harper's conservative government is defeated on a non-confidence vote by the opposition

April 29 – An estimated two billion people watch the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey in London.

May 1 – U.S. President Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the militant group Al-Qaeda, was killed on May 2, 2011 during an American military operation in Pakistan.

May 2 – The 41st federal election is held with the Conservative Party winning a majority government, the NDP becoming the official opposition, both for the first time and Green Party leader Elizabeth May won the first ever elected seat for that party in the Canadian parliament.

May 21 – Grímsvötn, Iceland's most active volcano, erupted and caused disruption to air travel in Northwestern Europe.

July 7 – The world's first artificial organ transplant is achieved, using an artificial windpipe coated with stem cells.

July 12 – The planet Neptune completes its first orbit since it was discovered in 1846. July 21 – Space Shuttle Atlantis lands successfully at Kennedy Space Center after completing STS-135, concluding NASA's Space Shuttle program.

August 5 – Juno, the first solar-powered spacecraft on a mission to Jupiter, is launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

August 20–28 – Libyan rebels take control of the capital Tripoli, effectively overthrowing the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

August 22 – Jack Layton, 61, the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the NDP dies of cancer. The flag atop the Peace Tower, as well as federal buildings in Toronto, fly their flags at half-mast.

September 17 – Occupy Wall Street protests begin in the United States. This develops into the Occupy movement, which spreads to 82 countries by October.

October 18 – Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas begin a major prisoner swap, in which the captured Israeli Army soldier Gilad Shalit is released by Hamas in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli-Arab prisoners held in Israel, including 280 prisoners serving life sentences for planning and perpetrating terror attacks.

October 20 – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is killed in Sirte, with National Transitional Council forces taking control of the city, and ending the war.

October 27 – After an emergency meeting in Brussels, the European Union announces an agreement to tackle the European sovereign debt crisis, which includes a write down of 50% of Greek bonds, a recapitalization of European banks and an increase of the bailout fund of the European Financial Stability Facility totaling to €1 trillion.

October 31 – UNESCO admitted Palestine as a member, following a vote in which 107 member states supported and 14 opposed.

November 26 – The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, the most elaborate Martian exploration vehicle to date, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center. It lands on Mars on August 6, 2012.

December 15 – The United States formally declares an end to the Iraq War. While this ends the insurgency, it begins another.

2010
FHL Presidents Irv Pupko/Ray Moscoe
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 4 – The tallest man-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is officially opened.

January 12 – A 7.0-magnitude earthquake occurs in Haiti, devastating the nation's capital, Port-au-Prince. With a confirmed death toll over 316,000, it is the tenth deadliest on record.

February 12–28 – The 2010 Winter Olympics are held in Vancouver and Whistler. On the final day, Canada wins its 14th gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics making it the most gold ever won by one country.

February 26 – A winter storm knocks out hydro across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.

April 20 – The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers. The resulting Horizon oil spill, one of the largest in history, spreads for several months, damaging the waters and the United States coastline, and prompting international debate and doubt about the practice and procedures of offshore drilling.

May 6 – The 2010 Flash Crash, a trillion-dollar stock market crash, occurs over 36 minutes, initiated by a series of automated trading programs in a feedback loop.

May 7 – Scientists conducting the Neanderthal genome project announce that they have sequenced enough of the Neanderthal genome to suggest that Neanderthals and humans may have interbred.

May 31 – Nine activists are killed in a clash with soldiers when Israeli Navy forces raid and capture a flotilla of ships attempting to break the Gaza blockade.

June 25–27 – The 36th G8 summit is held in Huntsville, Ontario. Consecutively, the 4th G20 summit is also held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the same dates.

June 26–27 – Nearly 1,000 people are arrested in Toronto after protests against the G20 summit lead to several police cars being set on fire, and police boxed in crowds at one intersection where this took place the next day, leading to mass arrests for breach of the peace.

July 25 – WikiLeaks, an online publisher of anonymous, covert, and classified material, leaks to the public over 90,000 internal reports about the United States-led involvement in the War in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010.

August 10 – The World Health Organization declares the H1N1 influenza pandemic over, saying worldwide flu activity has returned to typical seasonal patterns. September 7 – Israel becomes the 33rd member of the OECD.

September 30 – Germany pays war reparations for World War I.

October 10 – The Netherlands Antilles are dissolved, with the islands being split up and given a new constitutional status.

October 22 – The International Space Station surpasses the record for the longest continuous human occupation of space, having been continuously inhabited since November 2, 2000 (3641 days).

November 11–12 – The G-20 summit is held in Seoul, South Korea. Korea becomes the first non-G8 nation to host a G-20 leaders’ summit.

November 17 – Researchers at CERN trap 38 antihydrogen atoms for a sixth of a second, marking the first time in history that humans have trapped antimatter.

November 23 – North Korea shells Yeonpyeong Island, prompting a military response by South Korea. The incident causes an escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and prompts widespread international condemnation. The United Nations declares it one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean War.

November 28 – WikiLeaks releases a collection of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables, including 100,000 marked "secret" or "confidential".

November 29 – December 10 – The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference is held in Cancún, Mexico. Also referred to as the 16th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16), it serves too as the sixth meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 6).

December 4–8: A series of snowstorms and snow squalls dump over 110 centimeters of snow to parts of southern Ontario.

December 17 – The attempted suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Tunisia, triggers the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring throughout the Arab world.

December 21 – The first total lunar eclipse to occur on the day of the Northern winter solstice and Southern summer solstice since 1638 takes place.

2009
FHL President Irv Pupko
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 21 – Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent air strikes by both sides continue in the weeks to follow.

May 25 – North Korea announces that it has conducted a second successful nuclear test in North Hamgyong Province. The United Nations Security Council condemns the reported test.

June 11 – The outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as "swine flu", is deemed a global pandemic.

June 13 – Mass protests erupt across Iran following a disputed presidential election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected president, the largest demonstrations in the country since the Iranian Revolution.

June 18 – NASA launches the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter / LCROSS probes to the Moon, the first American lunar mission since Lunar Prospector in 1998.

July 22 – The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting up to 6 minutes and 38.8 seconds, occurs over parts of Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

2008
FHL Presidents Bonnie Kates/Irv Pupko
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 21 – Stock markets around the world plunge amid growing fears of a U.S. recession, fueled by the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis.

February 4 – Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket into space.

April 22 – Surgeons at London's Moorfields Eye Hospital perform the first operations using bionic eyes, implanting them into two blind patients.

June 11 – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologizes, on behalf of the Canadian government, to the country's First Nations for the Canadian Indian residential school system.

August 8–24 – The 2008 Summer Olympics take place in Beijing, China.

September 28 – SpaceX Falcon 1 becomes the world's first privately developed space launch vehicle to successfully make orbit.

October 3 – Global financial crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush signs the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law, creating a 700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets.

October 14 – Prime Minister Stephen Harper retains control of government with a minority following a general election.

October 21 – The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is officially inaugurated. It is a collaboration of over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories.

November 4 – Democratic U.S. Senator Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first African-American President.

December 5 – Human remains found in 1991 are identified as Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, using DNA analysis.

December 27 – Israel invades the Gaza Strip in response to rockets being fired into Israeli territory by Hamas and due to weapons being smuggled into the area.

December 31 – An extra leap second (23:59:60) is added to end the year. The last time this occurred was in 2005.

2007
FHL President Bonnie Kates
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 5 – The domed roof of BC Place Stadium in Vancouver collapses.

February 2 – The IPCC publishes its fourth assessment report, having concluded that global climate change is "very likely" to have a predominantly human cause.

March 13 – Canada 2006 Census data is released; the population of Canada in 2006 was 31,612,897.

April 3 – French high-speed passenger train, the TGV, reaches a top speed of 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph), breaking the record for the world's fastest conventional train.

June 28 – 2007 European heat wave: in the aftermath of Greece's worst heat wave in a century, at least 11 people are reported dead from heatstroke, approximately 200 wildfires break out nationwide, and the country's electricity grid nearly collapses due to record breaking demand.

June 13 – In the 2007 Presidential Election, the Knesset elects Shimon Peres as the ninth president of the State of Israel, by a second-round vote of 86-23. (Peres does not assume office until July 15.)

July 13 – Conrad Black is found guilty on three charges of fraud and one charge of obstruction of justice in Chicago.

September 6 – Israeli Air Force airplanes attack a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria in an airstrike.

November 14 – High Speed 1 from London to the Channel Tunnel is opened to passengers.

2006
FHL President Bonnie Kates
Prime Ministers Paul Martin/Stephen Harper
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 1 – Russia cuts the shipment of natural gas to Ukraine over a price dispute.

January 4 – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffers a severe hemorrhagic stroke and falls into a coma. As a result, Sharon's deputy Ehud Olmert begins exercising the powers of the office of Prime Minister.

January 19 – NASA launches the first space mission to Pluto as a rocket hurls the New Horizons spacecraft on a nine-year journey.

February 3 – Egyptian passenger ferry, MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98, sinks in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia, killing over 1,000 people.

February 6 – Stephen Harper is sworn in as the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada.

February 10–26 – The 2006 Winter Olympics are held in Turin, Italy.

March 9 – NASA's Cassini–Huygens spacecraft discovers geysers of a liquid substance shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, signaling a possible presence of water.

March 16 – The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the United Nations Human Rights Council.

April 20 – Iran announces a deal with Russia, involving a joint uranium enrichment firm on Russian soil; nine days later Iran announces that it will not move all activity to Russia, thus leading to a de facto termination of the deal.

June 3 – Montenegro declares independence after a May 21 referendum. The state union of Serbia and Montenegro is dissolved on June 5, leaving Serbia as the successor state.

June 28 – Israel launches an offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire by Hamas into Israeli territory.

July 12 – Israeli troops invade Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing three others. Hezbollah declares open war against Israel two days later.

August 24 – The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, demoting Pluto to the status of 'dwarf planet' more than 70 years after its discovery.

October 9 – North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test. November 5 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging by the Iraqi Special Tribunal.

2005
FHL Presidents Jeff Rosen/Bonnie Kates
Prime Minister Paul Martin
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

February 16 – The Kyoto Protocol officially goes into effect.

March 14 – The People's Republic of China ratifies an anti-secession law, aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence.

April 2 – Pope John Paul II dies; over 4 million people travel to the Vatican to mourn him. Pope Benedict XVI succeeds him on April 19, becoming the 265th pope.

April 9 – Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall. Camilla acquires the title Duchess of Cornwall.

April 26 – Syria withdraws the last of its military garrison from Lebanon, ending its 29-year military occupation of the country.

July 7 – Four coordinated suicide bombings rock central London, killing 52 people and injuring over 700.

August 29 – Hurricane Katrina makes landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast, causing severe damage and killing over a thousand people and dealing an estimated $108 billion in damage.

September 7 – Egypt holds its first ever multi-party presidential election, which is marred with allegations of fraud.

September 12 – Israel demolishes multiple settlements and withdraws its army from the Gaza Strip.

September 30 – Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, sparking outrage and violent riots by Muslims around the world.

November 22 – Angela Merkel assumes office as the first female Chancellor of Germany.

November 28 – The United Nations Climate Change conference is held in Montreal.

November 30 – Surgeons in France carry out the first human face transplant with Isabelle Dinoire becoming the first person to undergo it.

December 12 – Scientists announce that they have created mice with small amounts of human brain cells in an effort to make realistic models of neurological disorders.

December 31 – Another second is added, 23:59:60, to end the year 2005, the first time since 1998.

2004
FHL President Jeff Rosen
Prime Minister Paul Martin
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty

January 1 – Montreal Dorval Airport is renamed, after some controversy, Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, killing all 148 aboard.

April 17 – Israeli helicopters fire missiles at a convoy of vehicles in the Gaza Strip, killing Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi.

May 1 – The largest expansion to date of the European Union takes place, extending the Union by 10 member states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus.

June 21 – In Mojave, California, SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.

June 30 – Preliminary hearings begin in Iraq in the trial of former president Saddam Hussein, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

August 13–29 – The 2004 Summer Olympics are held in Athens, Greece.

September 2 – The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1559, calling for the removal of all foreign troops from Lebanon and for all militias to disarm.

October 8 – Suicide bombers detonate two bombs at the Red Sea resort of Taba, Egypt, killing over 30 people, mostly Israeli tourists.

October 29 – European heads of state sign in Rome the Treaty and Final Act, establishing the first European Constitution.

November 13 – The European Space Agency probe SMART-1 arrives at the Moon, becoming the first European satellite to travel to and orbit it.

November 16 – NASA's hypersonic Scramjet breaks a record by reaching a velocity of about 7,000 mph in an unmanned experimental flight. It obtains a speed of Mach 9.6, almost 10 times the speed of sound.

November 22 – The Orange Revolution begins following a disputed presidential election in Ukraine where Viktor Yanukovych won against Viktor Yushchenko amid accusations of electoral fraud. A revote results in Yushchenko being declared the winner.

December 21 – Iraqi insurgents attack a U.S. military base in the city of Mosul, killing at least 22 people.

December 27 – Astrophysicists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich measure the strongest burst from a magnetar. At 21:30:26 UT Earth is hit by a huge wave front of gamma and X-rays. It is the strongest flux of high-energetic gamma radiation measured so far.

December 31 – Taipei 101, at the time the tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 1,670 feet (509 metres), officially opens.

2003
FHL Presidents Michael Kates/Jeff Rosen
Prime Ministers Jean Chretien/Paul Martin
Ontario Premiers Ernie Eves/Dalton McGuinty

February 1 – At the conclusion of the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board.

February 4 – The leaders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia reconstitute the country into a loose state-union between Montenegro and Serbia, marking an end to the 85 year old Yugoslav state.

March 12 –The World Health Organization issues a global alert on severe acute respiratory syndrome when it spreads to Hong Kong and Vietnam after originating in China.

March 20 – The Iraq War begins with the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and allied forces.

March 26 - Ontario declares a public health emergency as a result of SARS.

April 9 – U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.

September 24 – The Hubble Space Telescope starts the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field, making 800 exposures, until January 16, 2004.

August 14 - A massive blackout hits Ontario, Quebec and the northeastern United States.

October 5 – Israeli warplanes strike alleged Islamic jihad bases inside Syrian territory, the first Israeli attack on the country since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

October 23 - An El Al Jet is diverted twice, first to Montreal then to Hamilton, Ontario, after a threat is made against Toronto Pearson International Airport.

October 24 – The Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era of airliner supersonic travel to a close.

December 13 – Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, is captured in the small town of Ad-Dawr by the U.S. Army.

December 19 – Libya agrees to eliminate all of its materials, equipment, and programs aimed at producing weapons of mass destruction.

January 1 – The Euro is officially introduced in the Eurozone countries. The former currencies of all the countries that use the Euro ceased to be legal tender on February 28.

January 3 – The Israeli Navy seizes a cargo ship trafficking 50 tons of weapons to the Palestinian National Authority.

February 6 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom celebrates her Golden Jubilee, marking 50 years since her accession to the British throne.

February 8–24 – The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

March 20 - Stephen Harper defeats Stockwell Day to become leader of the Canadian Alliance.

March 27 – A Palestinian suicide bomber kills 30 people and injures 140 others at a hotel in Netanya, Israel, triggering Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank, two days later.

April 2 – Israeli forces besiege the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, when militants took shelter there. The siege would last for 38 days.

July 1 – The Rome Statute comes into force, thereby establishing the International Criminal Court.

November 8 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1441, forcing Iraq to either disarm or face "serious consequences". Iraq agrees to the terms of the resolution on November 13.

November 25 – U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, in the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947.

January 10 – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approves the merger of America Online and Time Warner to form AOL Time Warner.

January 20 – George W. Bush is sworn in as President of the United States.

March 24 - The first release of Mac OS X is released as the successor to Mac OS 9 and the Mac OS X Public Beta, which would not cease to function until May 14.

May 24 – The Versailles wedding hall disaster kills 23 in Jerusalem, Israel.

June 1 – A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21, mostly teenagers, in the Dolphinarium disco in Tel Aviv, Israel.

June 11 – In Terre Haute, Indiana, Timothy McVeigh is executed for the Oklahoma City bombing.

August 1 – Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has a Ten Commandments monument installed in the judiciary building, leading to a lawsuit to have it removed and his own removal from office.

August 9 – Sbarro Restaurant in Jerusalem is attacked by a Palestinian militant, who kills 15 civilians and wounds 130.

August 31 – The World Conference against Racism 2001 begins in Durban, South Africa. September 3 –The United States, Canada and Israel withdraw from the U.N. Conference on Racism because they feel that the issue of Zionism is overemphasized.

September 11 – 2,977 victims are killed in the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania after American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 are hijacked and crash into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, American Airlines Flight 77 is hijacked and crashes into the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 is hijacked and crashes into grassland in Shanksville, due to the passengers fighting to regain control of the airplane. The World Trade Center towers collapse as a result of the crashes.

September 13 – Civilian aircraft traffic resumes in the United States after the September 11 attacks.

September 14 – Historic National Prayer Service held at Washington National Cathedral for victims of the September 11 attacks. A similar service is held in Canada on Parliament Hill, the largest vigil ever held in the nation's capital.

September 17 – The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.

September 20 – In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "War on Terror".

October 7 – War in Afghanistan: The United States invades Afghanistan, with participation from other nations.

October 11 – The Polaroid Corporation files for federal bankruptcy protection.

October 17 – Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi becomes the first Israeli minister to be assassinated in a terrorist attack.

October 23 –The iPod is first introduced by Apple.

October 25 – Microsoft releases Windows XP.

November 13 – In the first such act since World War II, U.S. President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against any foreigners suspected of having connections to terrorist acts or planned acts against the United States.

December 15 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 spent to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean.

January 3–10 – Israel and Syria hold inconclusive peace talks.

January 10 – America Online announces an agreement to purchase Time Warner for $162 billion (the largest-ever corporate merger).

February 13 – The final original Peanuts comic strip is published, following the death of its creator, Charles M. Schulz.

February 29 – a rare century leap year date occurs. Usually, 00 years are not leap years due to not being exactly divisible by 400. 2000 is the first such year to have a February 29 since the year 1600, making it only the second such occasion since the Lilian rule was introduced in the late 16th century. The next such leap year will not occur until 2400.

March 21 – Pope John Paul II begins the first official visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel.

May 25 – Israel withdraws IDF forces from southern Lebanon after 22 years.

July 13–25 – Israel's prime minister Ehud Barak and PLO leader Yasser Arafat meet at Camp David, but fail to reach an agreement.

July 21–23 – G-8 Nations hold their 26th Annual Summit; issues include AIDS, the 'digital divide', and halving world poverty by 2015.

July 31 – August 3 – The Republican National Convention in Philadelphia nominates Governor of Texas George W. Bush for President of the United States and Dick Cheney for Vice President.

August 14–17 – The Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles nominates U.S. Vice President Al Gore for President and Senator Joe Lieberman for Vice President.

September 13 – Steve Jobs introduces the public beta of Mac OS X for US$29.95.

September 15 – October 1 – The 2000 Summer Olympics are held in Sydney, Australia is the last Olympic Games of the 20th century.

September 28 – Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits the Temple Mount, protected by a several-hundred-strong Israeli police force. Palestinian riots erupt, leading to a full-fledged armed uprising (called the Al-Aqsa Intifada by sympathizers and the Oslo War by opponents).

October 12 – In Aden, Yemen, USS Cole is badly damaged by two Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, who place a small boat laden with explosives alongside the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.

October 21 – Fifteen Arab leaders convene in Cairo, Egypt, for their first summit in 4 years; the Libyan delegation walks out, angry over signs the summit will stop short of calling for breaking ties with Israel.

November 2 – The first resident crew enters the International Space Station.

November 7 – Hillary Clinton is elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first First Lady of the United States to win public office.

United States presidential election, 2000: Republican Governor of Texas George W. Bush defeats Democratic Vice President Al Gore in the U.S. presidential election but there is a miscount in Florida resulting in a recount of the votes.

November 16 – Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting U.S. President to visit Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

November 27 – Jean Chrétien is re-elected as Prime Minister of Canada, as the Liberal Party of Canada increases its majority in the House of Commons of Canada.

December 12 – Bush v. Gore: The U.S. Supreme Court stops the Florida presidential recount, effectively giving the state, and the Presidency, to George W. Bush.

February 7 – King Hussein of Jordan dies from cancer, and his son Abdullah II inherits the throne.

February 12 – U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate.

April 1 – Nunavut, an Inuit homeland, is created from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories to become Canada's third territory.

April 18 – Wayne Gretzky retires as a player from the National Hockey League.

April 20 – Columbine High School massacre: Two Littleton, Colorado, teenagers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, open fire on their teachers and classmates, killing 12 students and 1 teacher, and then themselves.

May 17 – Ehud Barak is elected prime minister of Israel.

May 19 - Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is released.

June 1 – Napster, a revolutionary music downloading service, debuts.

July 16 – Off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, a plane crashes piloted by John F. Kennedy Jr., killing him, his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette.

July 20 – Mercury program: Liberty Bell 7 - piloted by Gus Grissom in 1961 - is raised from the Atlantic Ocean.

July 22 – The first version of MSN Messenger is released by Microsoft.

November 6 – Australians defeat a referendum proposing the replacement of the Queen and the Governor General with a President to make Australia a republic. November 20 – The People's Republic of China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft.

November 21 – The film The Wizard of Oz begins its run on cable TV, which continues to this day. On cable it is telecast several times a year, like most other films, rather than being shown only once annually.

November 30 – The ExxonMobil merger is completed, forming the largest corporation in the world.

December 30 – Former Beatle George Harrison was attacked at his home in Friar Park by 36-year-old Michael Abram.

December 31 – Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.

April 10 – Good Friday Agreement: 1 hour after the end of the talks deadline, the Belfast Agreement is signed between the Irish and British governments and most Northern Ireland political parties, with the notable exception of the Democratic Unionist Party.

April 22 – Disney's Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida June 25 – Microsoft releases Windows 98.

July 2 – J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is published.

University PhD candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

December 6 – Hugo Chávez, politician and former member of the Venezuelan military, is elected President of Venezuela.

December 19 – The U.S. House of Representatives forwards articles of impeachment against President Clinton to the Senate, making him the second president to be impeached in the nation.

January 20 – Bill Clinton is sworn in for a second term as President of the United States.

January 22 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State, after confirmation by the United States Senate.

January 27 – It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by Nazis.

February 4 – On their way to Lebanon, 2 Israeli troop-transport helicopters collide, killing 73.

February 22 – In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned, and was born in July 1996.

May 2 – The Labour Party of the United Kingdom returns to power for the first time in 18 years, with Tony Blair becoming Prime Minister, in a landslide majority in the 1997 general election.

May 23 – Mohammad Khatami wins the 1997 Iranian presidential election and becomes the first Iranian Reformist president.

May 31 – The 13-kilometer Confederation Bridge, the world's longest bridge spanning ice-covered waters, opens between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, Canada.

June 2 – In Denver, Colorado, Timothy McVeigh is convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He is sentenced to death on June 13.

July 1 – The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

July 10 – In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neanderthal skeleton, which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.

July 13 – The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial, alongside some of his comrades. Guevara and his comrades were executed on 9 October 1967 in Bolivia. July 15 – Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami residence.

July 17 – The F. W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.

August 1 – Steve Jobs returns to Apple Computer, Inc at Macworld in Boston.

August 31 – Death of Diana, Princess of Wales: Diana, Princess of Wales is taken to a hospital after a car accident shortly after midnight, in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris. She is pronounced dead at 3:00 am.

September 6 – The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, takes place at Westminster Abbey, watched by over 2 billion people worldwide.

September 11 – Scotland votes to create its own Parliament after 290 years of union with England.

October 2 – British scientists Moira Bruce and John Collinge, with their colleagues, independently show that the new variant form of the Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease is the same disease as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

October 16 – The first color photograph appears on the front page of The New York Times. October 17 – The remains of Che Guevara are laid to rest with full military honours in a specially built mausoleum in the city of Santa Clara, Cuba, where he had won the decisive battle of the Cuban Revolution 39 years before.

November 11 – Mary McAleese is elected the 8th President of Ireland in succession to Mary Robinson, the first time in the world that one woman has succeeded another as elected head of state.

December 3 – In Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign a treaty prohibiting the manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel land mines. However, the United States, the People's Republic of China, Russia, South Korea and 32 other nations do not sign and/or ratify the treaty.

December 11 – The Kyoto Protocol is adopted by a United Nations committee.

December 19 – James Cameron's Titanic, the then highest-grossing film of all time, premieres in the U.S.

December 29 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the chickens within its territory (1.25 million) to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.

January 3 – Motorola introduces the Motorola StarTAC Wearable Cellular Telephone, the world's smallest and lightest mobile phone to date.

January 5 – Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is assassinated by an Israeli Shabak-planted, bomb-laden cell phone.

January 20 – Yasser Arafat is re-elected president of the Palestinian Authority.

February 25 – Two suicide bombs in Israel kill 25 and injure 80; Hamas claims responsibility.

March 3–March 4 – Two more suicide bombs explode in Israel, killing 32. The Yahya Ayyash Units admit responsibility, and Palestinian president Yasser Arafat condemns the killings in a televised address. Israel warns of retaliation.

April 11 – The Israeli government launches Operation Grapes of Wrath, consisting of massive attacks on Lebanon, in retaliation for prior terrorist attacks, and sparking off a violent series of retaliations.

April 24 – At the urging of Yasser Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization drops its clause calling for the removal of Israel. The Israeli government responds by dropping a similar clause concerning the existence of Palestine.

May 30 – The Likud Party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, wins a narrow victory in the Israeli general election.

July 21 – The Saguenay Flood, one of Canada's most costly natural disasters, is caused by flooding on the Saguenay River in Quebec.

July 27 – The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics kills 1 and injures 111.

October 7 – News Corporation launches the Fox News Channel as a 24-hour news channel to compete against CNN

November 26 – The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas is imploded to make way for the Venetian Hotel.

December 30 – Proposed budget cuts by Benjamin Netanyahu spark protests from 250,000 workers, who shut down services across Israel.

December 31 – The Hacienda in Las Vegas is imploded to make way for the Mandalay Bay.

January 16 – The fourth Star Trek TV series, Voyager, premieres on UPN in the United States.

March 1 – The first Yahoo! Search interface is founded.

March 16 – Mississippi ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The amendment was nationally ratified in 1865.

April 19 – Oklahoma City bombing: 168 people, including 8 Federal Marshals and 19 children, are killed at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and 680 wounded by a bomb set off by Timothy McVeigh and one of his accomplices, Terry Nichols.

June 3 – Montreal Expos pitcher Pedro Martínez becomes the second Major League Baseball pitcher to pitch a "perfect game" leading into the 10th inning.

June 24 – The New Jersey Devils sweep the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings to win their first Stanley Cup in the lock-out shortened season.

August 11 – The Russell Hill subway accident results in 3 deaths and 30 injuries in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

August 24 – Microsoft releases Windows 95.

September 3 – eBay is founded.

October 3 – O. J. Simpson is found not guilty of double murder for the deaths of former wife Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

October 30 – Quebec independentists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada.

November 4 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.

November 22 – The first-ever full length computer animated feature film, Toy Story, is released by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures.

January 1 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is established. February 25 – Israeli Kahanist Baruch Goldstein opens fire inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank; he kills 29 Muslims before worshippers beat him to death.

March 21 – The 66th Academy Awards, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama, Schindler's List, wins 7 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director (Spielberg).

April 22 – Richard Nixon dies in New York City, nearly 20 years after he resigned in 1974. His funeral is the first funeral of a U.S. President since the death of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.

May 6 – The Channel Tunnel, which took 15,000 workers over 7 years to complete, opens between England and France, enabling passengers to travel between the two countries in 35 minutes.

May 10– Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.

May 12 – Ice hockey becomes Canada's official winter sport.

June 12 – Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman are murdered outside the Simpson home in Los Angeles. O. J. Simpson is later acquitted of the killings, but is held liable in a civil suit.

June 14 – The New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup, in 7 games over the Vancouver Canucks. It was New York's first Stanley Cup since 1940. Riots erupt in Vancouver in response to the victory causing $1.1 million Canadian dollars in damage. June 15 – Israel and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations.

June 15 – The Lion King, the highest grossing hand-drawn animated feature, is released by Walt Disney Pictures.

June 17 – NFL star O. J. Simpson and his friend Al Cowlings flee from police in his white Ford Bronco. The low-speed chase ends at Simpson's Brentwood, Los Angeles mansion, where he surrenders.

June 23 – The International Olympic Committee celebrates its first centennial. June 25 - Cold War: The last Russian troops leave Germany.

June 26 – Microsoft announces it will no longer sell or support the MS-DOS operating system separately from Microsoft Windows. This had been its mainstay since 1980. July 12 – The Allied occupation of Berlin ends with a casing of the colors ceremony attended by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

July 25 – Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration as a preliminary to signature on October 25 of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty, which formally ends the state of war that has existed between the nations since 1948.

August 12– The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike is called, ending the 1994 MLB Season.

October 31 – The Duke of Edinburgh attends a ceremony in Israel, where his late mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg (Princess Andrew of Greece), is honoured as "Righteous Among the Nations" for sheltering Jewish families from the Nazis in Athens, during World War II.

November 5 – A letter by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, announcing that he has Alzheimer's disease, is released.

November 8 – Georgia Representative Newt Gingrich leads the United States Republican Party in taking control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm congressional elections, the first time in 40 years the Republicans secure control of both houses of Congress. George W. Bush is elected Governor of Texas.

November 13 – The first passengers travel through the Channel Tunnel.

November 28 – The Milwaukee Cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer is beaten to death by a fellow inmate at the prison where he was incarcerated.

December 15 – The first version of web browser Netscape Navigator is released.

January 1 – Czechoslovakia ceases to exist as the Czech Republic and Slovakia separate in the so-called Velvet Divorce.

January 3 – The third Star Trek TV series Deep Space Nine premieres in syndication. January 20 – Bill Clinton is sworn in as President of the United States.

February 24 – Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney resigns amidst political and economic turmoil. Kim Campbell, his successor, becomes Canada's first female Prime Minister.

February 26 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over 1,000.

February 28 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, with a warrant to arrest leader David Koresh on federal firearms violations. Four agents and five Davidians die in the raid and a 51-day standoff begins.

March 13–March 15 – The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Quebec; it reportedly kills 184.

March 24 – The Israeli Knesset elects Ezer Weizman as President of Israel. April 1 – The Vatican orders the moving of the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz. April 19 – A 51-day stand-off at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ends with a fire that kills 76 people, including David Koresh.

April 22 – In Washington, D.C., the Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated. June 23 – In Manassas, Virginia, Lorena Bobbitt cuts off the penis of her husband John Wayne Bobbitt.

June 25 – Kim Campbell becomes the 19th, and first female, Prime Minister of Canada.

July 29 – The Israeli Supreme Court acquits accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.

September 13 – Oslo I Accord: PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington, D.C., after signing a peace accord.

October 25 – Canadian federal election, 1993: Jean Chrétien and his Liberal Party defeat the governing Progressive Conservative Party, which falls to a historic low of 2 seats.

November 1 – The Maastricht Treaty takes effect, formally establishing the European Union.

November 17–November 22 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passes the legislative houses in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

December 8 – U.S. President Bill Clinton signs into law the North American Free Trade Agreement.

December 13 – Prime Minister of Canada Kim Campbell resigns as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, and is succeeded as leader by Jean Charest.

December 15 – Schindler's List, directed by Steven Spielberg is released in theatres. December 20 – The United Nations General Assembly votes unanimously to appoint a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

December 30 – Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations.

January 22 – STS-42: Dr. Roberta Bondar becomes the first Canadian woman in space, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

January 24 – China and Israel establish diplomatic relations.

February 8 – The opening ceremony for the 1992 Winter Olympics is held in Albertville, France.

February 10 – Boxer Mike Tyson, the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, is found guilty of raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington, Miss Black Rhode Island, by a jury in Indianapolis. On March 26, he is sentenced to 6 years in prison.

February 16 – In Lebanon, Israeli helicopter gunships assassinate Abbas al-Musawi, the leader of Hezbollah, and his son, in retaliation for a February 14 raid that killed 3 Israeli soldiers.

February 17 – A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentences serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.

March 2 – Microsoft releases Windows 3.1 in stores everywhere.

April 12 – The Euro Disney Resort officially opens with its theme park Euro Disneyland. The resort and its park's name are later changed to Disneyland Paris.

April 29 – Los Angeles riots: The acquittal of 4 police officers in the Rodney King beating criminal trial triggers massive rioting in Los Angeles. The riots will last for 6 days resulting in 53 deaths and over a $1 billion in damages before order is restored.

May 22 – The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson airs its final show on NBC.

June 23 – The Israeli legislative election is won by the Israeli Labor Party under the leadership of Yitzhak Rabin, ousting a Likud government. On July 13, Yitzhak Rabin becomes the prime minister of Israel.

June 29 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 5-4 decision.

July 19 – The Cabinet of Israel approves a freeze on new settlements in the occupied territories, a move expected to reinvigorate the Middle East Peace Process.

July 25 – August 9 – The 1992 Summer Olympics are held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

July 26 – Iraq agrees to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to search the Iraqi Agricultural Ministry building in Baghdad. When inspectors arrive on July 28 and 29, they find nothing and voice suspicions that Iraqi records had been removed.

August 12 – Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce that a deal has been reached on the North American Free Trade Agreement; the deal will be formally signed on December 17, 1992.

August 24 – Concordia University massacre – Valery Fabrikant murders four colleagues and seriously wounds another in a shooting at Concordia University, in Montreal, Quebec.

August 29 – In Rostock, Germany, tens of thousands rally to protest neo-Nazi attacks on refugees and immigrants begun on August 22.

October 4 – El Al Flight 1862 crashes in Amsterdam, Netherlands; 43 are killed, many more injured.

October 26 – In a national referendum, voters in Canada reject the Charlottetown Accord.

October 31 – Pope John Paul II issues an apology, and lifts the edict of the Inquisition against Galileo Galilei.

November 3 – United States presidential election, 1992: Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton is elected the 42nd President of the United States.

November 11 – The Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.

November 24 – Elizabeth II describes this year as an annus horribilis (horrible year), due to various scandals damaging the image of the Royal Family, as well as the Windsor Castle fire.

December 9 – The Prince and Princess of Wales publicly announce their separation.

January 1 - The Goods and Services Tax comes into effect

January 4 – The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to condemn Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

January 16 – Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes against Iraq. January 17 – Gulf War: Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel.

January 19 – An Iraqi Scud attack on Tel Aviv in Israel injures 15 people.

February 5 – A Michigan court bars Dr. Jack Kevorkian from assisting in suicides.

February 22 – Gulf War: Iraq accepts a Soviet-proposed cease fire agreement. The U.S. rejects the agreement, but says that retreating Iraqi forces will not be attacked if they leave Kuwait within 24 hours.

February 27 – President Bush declares victory over Iraq and orders a cease-fire. March 3 – An amateur video captures the beating of motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. The four officers are indicted on March 15.

March 13 – The Acid Rain Treaty of 1991 is signed between the American and Canadian governments.

March 15 – Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.

May 24 – Authorised by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Operation Solomon commences to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel

June 5 – STS-40: Space Shuttle Columbia carries the Spacelab into orbit.

June 12– Boris Yeltsin is elected President of Russia, the largest and most populous of the 15 Soviet republics.

June 15 - Paul Bernardo kidnaps, rapes, and murders Leslie Mahaffy.

June 17 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth.

July 1– The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.

July 9– In response to the end of apartheid, the International Olympic Committee readmits South Africa to the Olympics.

July 18 – In Israel, a judge investigating a 1990 incident outside a mosque in Jerusalem in which at least 17 Palestinians were killed rules that Israeli police provoked the incident.

July 22 – Boxer Mike Tyson is arrested and charged with the rape of Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington 3 days earlier, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

July 22 – Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested after the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his Milwaukee, Wisconsin, apartment. Police soon find out that he is involved in 6 more murders.

August 13 – The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (or "Super Nintendo") is released in the United States.

August 29 – Boris Yeltsin bans and dissolves the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

September 11 – Israel releases 51 Arab prisoners and the bodies of 9 guerillas, raising hopes that the last Western hostages in Lebanon will soon be released.

September 21–30 – Iraq disarmament crisis: IAEA inspectors discover files on Iraq's hidden nuclear weapons program. Iraqi officials confiscate documents from U.N. weapons inspectors, refusing to allow them to leave the site without turning over other documents. A 4-day standoff ensues. Iraq permits the team to leave with the documents after the U.N. Security Council threatens enforcement actions.

September 22 – The Huntington Library makes the Dead Sea Scrolls available to the public for the first time.

October 3 – Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton announces he will seek the 1992 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

October 6 – President Gorbachev condemns Antisemitism in the Soviet Union in a statement read on the 50th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacres, which saw the death of 35,000 Jews in Ukraine.

October 18 – The Soviet Union restores diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been suspended since the 1967 Six-Day War.

October 18 – Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke wins a spot in the runoff election for governor of Louisiana, ultimately losing to Edwin Edwards.

October 30 – In Madrid, the Middle East Peace Conference opens, the first direct negotiations between Israel and nearly all its Arab adversaries.

November 7– Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson announces he has HIV, effectively ending his NBA career.

November 9 – On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, tens of thousands of protestors demonstrate against attacks on immigrant workers.

November 12 – June Rowlands is elected the first female Mayor of Toronto.

November 21 – The United Nations Security Council recommends Egypt's deputy prime minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations.

November 24 – Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury dies from pneumonia induced by AIDS.

November 24 - At the 79th Grey Cup the Toronto Argonauts defeat the Calgary Stampeders at Winnipeg Stadium in Winnipeg.

December 8 - The signing of the agreement ending the USSR's existence and the founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

December 16 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/86 which states that Zionism is not racism, repealing United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (adopted 1975). The resolution is favoured by 111 nations and opposed by 25 nations.

December 24 – Russian SFSR President Boris Yeltsin sends a letter to UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, stating that Russia should be a successor to the collapsing Soviet Union within the United Nations Organization.

December 25 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union, from which most republics have already seceded, anticipating the dissolution of the 74-year-old state. The Russian SFSR officially renames itself the Russian Federation.

December 26 – The Cold War ends after 44–46 years when the Supreme Soviet meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union. All Soviet institutions eventually cease operation on December 31.

January 24 – The federal Conservatives introduce legislation that would create the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a national sales tax

January 29 – Ramon Hnatyshyn replaces Jeanne Sauvé as governor general

February 2 – Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.

February 11 – Nelson Mandela is released from prison, after 27 years behind bars.

February 13 – German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

February 22 – USSR announce that they will not allow direct commercial flights to Israel

March 13 – The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approves changes to the Constitution of the Soviet Union to create a strong U.S.-style presidency. Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to a five-year term as the first-ever President of the Soviet Union on March 15.

March 15 – The federal government decides that Sikhs may wear turbans while serving as Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers

March 28 – U.S. President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

April 24 – The Hubble Space Telescope is launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

May 12 – The Bloc Québécois Party is formed as several MPs led by Lucien Bouchard quit the Tories and Liberals

May 18 – East Germany and West Germany sign a treaty to emerge their economic and social systems, effective July 1.

May 24 – The Edmonton Oilers win the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals.

June 8 – Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Shamir ends 88 days with only an acting government by forming a coalition of right-wing and religious parties led by Shamir's Likud party.

June 17–30 – Nelson Mandela tours North America, visiting three Canadian and eight U.S. cities.

June 23 – In Canada, the Meech Lake Accord of 1987 dies after the Manitoba and Newfoundland legislatures fail to approve it ahead of the deadline.

June 23 – Jean Chrétien elected leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at a leadership convention held in Calgary

July 1 – East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, the West German Deutsche Mark becoming the official currency of the East also. The Inner German border (constructed 1945) also ceases to function.

July 28 – On a Tel Aviv beach, a bomb exploded killing Marnie Kimelman, a 17-year-old Canadian tourist.

August 6 – The South African government and ANC begin talks on ending Apartheid in South Africa.

September 6 – Bob Rae's Ontario New Democratic Party wins a surprise majority in Ontario.

October 1 – Bob Rae become premier of Ontario, replacing David Peterson

October 3 – East Germany and West Germany reunify into a single Germany.

October 8 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: In Jerusalem, Israeli police kill 17 Palestinians and wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount.

October 14 – Composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein dies of a heart attack at his home in New York City at the age of 72.

November 5 – Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel.

November 13 –The first known web page is written.

November 17 – Soviet President Gorbachev proposes a radical restructuring of the Soviet government, including the creation of a Federal Council to be made up of the heads of the 15 Soviet republics.

November 19-21 – The leaders of Canada, the United States, and 32 European states meet in Paris to formally mark the end of the Cold War.

November 28 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher resigns and is replaced by John Major.

November 29 – Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes UN Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that state does not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by Tuesday, January 15, 1991.

December 1 – Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 metres beneath the English Channel seabed, establishing the first land connection between Great Britain and the mainland of Europe for around 8,000 years.

January 1 – The Canadian-American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect.

January 20 – George H. W. Bush succeeds Ronald Reagan as the 41st President of the United States of America.

January 24 – Florida executes Ted Bundy by electric chair for the murders of young women.

January 30 – Prime Minister Brian Mulroney shuffles his cabinet, appointing six new ministers and reassigning the responsibilities of 19 others.

February 10 –President Bush meets Prime Minister Mulroney in Ottawa, laying the groundwork for the Acid Rain Treaty of 1991.

February 14 –The Satanic Verses controversy: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran (d. June 3), issues a fatwa calling for the death of Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie and his publishers for issuing the novel The Satanic Verses (1988).

February 14 –The first of 24 Global Positioning System satellites is placed into orbit. February 24 – The Satanic Verses controversy: Iran places a US $3-million bounty on the head of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.

March 4 – Time Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner.

March 13– A geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. Six million people are left without power for 9 hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and aurorae are seen as far as Texas.

March 14 – Gun control: U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States.

March 15 – Israel hands over Taba to Egypt, ending a seven-year territorial dispute. March 24 – Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of oil after running aground.

March 27 – The first contested elections for the Soviet parliament result in losses for the Communist Party.

March 29 – The 61st Academy Awards are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with Rain Man winning Best Picture.

April 25 – Motorola introduces the Motorola MicroTAC Personal Cellular Telephone, then the world's smallest mobile phone.

May 1 – Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World opens to the public for the first time.

May 4 – Oliver North convicted on charges related to the Iran–Contra affair. His conviction was thrown out on appeal in 1991 because of his immunized testimony. May 14 – Mikhail Gorbachev visits China, the first Soviet leader to do so since Nikita Khrushchev in the 1960s.

June 3 – The SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre) opens in Toronto.

June 4 – The Tiananmen Square crackdown takes place in Beijing on the army's approach to the square, and the final stand-off in the square is covered live on television.

July 5 – The television show Seinfeld premieres.

July 6 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack, the first Palestinian suicide attack on Israel, takes place.

July 10 – Mel Blanc, the man of 1000 voices of many characters dies of heart disease aged 81.

July 14 – France celebrates the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.

July 14–16 – At the 15th G7 summit, leaders call for restrictions on gas emissions.

July 31 – In Lebanon, Hezbollah announces that it has hanged U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins in retaliation for Israel's July 28 kidnapping of Hezbollah leader Abdel Karim Obeid. The same day, the United Nations Security Council passes United Nations Security Council Resolution 638, condemning the taking of hostages by both sides in the conflict.

August 10 – Army General Colin Powell became the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after being nominated by President Bush.

August 15 – F. W. de Klerk becomes the seventh and last State President of apartheid South Africa.

August 24 – Record-setting baseball player Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from the sport following allegations of illegal gambling, thereby preventing his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

August 25 – Voyager 2 passes the planet Neptune and its moon Triton.

September 19 – The Catholic Church calls for removal of the Carmelite convent located near the former Auschwitz concentration camp, whose presence had offended some Jewish leaders.

September 23 – A cease-fire in the Lebanese Civil War stops the violence that had killed 900 people since March.

October 1 – Civil union between partners in a same-sex relationship becomes legal in Denmark under a law enacted on June 7, the world's first such legislation.

October 6 – Bette Davis, First Lady of American Cinema, dies at 81.

November 1 – The border between East Germany and Czechoslovakia is reopened.

November 26 –The Saskatchewan Roughriders win on a last seconds field goal to win a major points output; winning the 77th Grey Cup versus the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 43-40.

December 1 – In a meeting with Pope John Paul II, President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev pledges greater religious freedom for citizens of the Soviet Union.

December 3 – Cold War: Malta Summit – In a meeting off the coast of Malta, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between their nations may be coming to an end.

December 6 – Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique de Montréal.

December 6 – The last episode of the classic era of Doctor Who is broadcast on British television.

December 17 – The first full-length episode of the animated series The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", is shown on Fox television in the United States.

December 20 – The United States invasion of Panama ("Operation Just Cause") is launched in an attempt to overthrow Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

January 2 – The Soviet Union begins its program of economic restructuring (perestroika) with legislation initiated by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (though Gorbachev had begun minor restructuring in 1985).

January 15 – In Jerusalem, Israeli police and Palestinian protestors clash at the Dome of the Rock; several police and at least 70 Palestinians are injured.

January 26 – The Phantom of the Opera, the longest running Broadway play ever, opens.

January 28 – Canada's abortion laws are repealed by the Supreme Court.

February 13 – 28 – The 1988 Winter Olympics are held in Calgary

February 29 – A Nazi document implicates Kurt Waldheim in World War II deportations.

March 24 – An Israeli court sentences Mordechai Vanunu to 18 years in prison for disclosing Israel's nuclear program to The Sunday Times.

April 12 – Former pop singer Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California.

April 16 – Israeli commandos kill the PLO's Abu Jihad in Tunisia.

April 25 – In Israel, Ivan Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. He is accused by survivors of being the notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination camp known as "Ivan the Terrible". The conviction is later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.

May 15 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: After more than 8 years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins withdrawing from Afghanistan.

May 27 – Microsoft releases Windows 2.1.

June 23 – NASA scientist James Hansen testifies to the Senate that man-made global warming has begun.

July 20 – The Democratic National Convention in Atlanta nominates Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen as its Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.

August 11 – Al-Qaeda is formed by Osama bin Laden.

August 18 – The Republican National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana nominates George H. W. Bush for President and Dan Quayle for Vice President of the United States of America.

August 19 – A truce begins in the Iran–Iraq War. August 20 – The Iran–Iraq War ends, with an estimated one million lives lost.

September 17 – October 2 – The 1988 Summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea.

September 29 – STS-26: NASA resumes Space Shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery.

October 5 – In Omaha, Nebraska, in the only vice presidential debate of the 1988 U.S. presidential election, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana, insists he has as much experience in government as John F. Kennedy did when he sought the presidency in 1960. His Democratic opponent, Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, replies, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."

October 13 – In the second U.S. presidential debate, held by U.C.L.A., the Democratic party nominee, Michael Dukakis, is asked by journalist Bernard Shaw of CNN if he would support the death penalty if his wife, Kitty, were to be raped and murdered. Gov. Dukakis' reply, voicing his opposition to capital punishment in any and all circumstances, is later said to have been a major reason for the eventual failure of his campaign for the White House.

October 15 – Kirk Gibson hits a dramatic home run to win Game 1 of the World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers, over the Oakland Athletics, by a score of 5–4.

October 27 – Ronald Reagan decides to tear down the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow because of Soviet listening devices in the building structure.

October 28 – Abortion: 48 hours after announcing it was abandoning RU-486, French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it will resume distribution of the drug.

November 1 – In the Israeli election, Likud wins 47 seats, Labour wins 49, but Likud Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir remains in office.

November 8 – United States presidential election, 1988: George H. W. Bush is elected over Michael Dukakis, becoming the first sitting Vice President of the United States in 152 years to be elected as President of the United States.

November 10 – The United States Air Force acknowledges the existence of the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk in a Pentagon press conference.

November 13 – Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian law student in Portland, Oregon, is beaten to death by members of the Neo-Nazi group East Side White Pride.

November 15 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed at the Palestinian National Council meeting in Algiers, by a vote of 253–46.

November 21 – Canadian federal election, Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada win a second majority government.

December 1 – The first World AIDS Day is held.

December 2 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.

December 6 – Famous American vocalist Roy Orbison dies of a heart attack in Hendersonville, Tennessee aged 52.

December 9 – The last Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant roll off the assembly line in a Chrysler factory in the U.S.

December 21 – Pan Am Flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing a total of 270 people. Those responsible are believed to be Libyans.

January 1 – Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories, changes its name to Iqaluit.

January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

March 2 – The Chrysler Corporation acquires American Motors.

March 9 – The Irish rock band U2 releases their studio album The Joshua Tree.

April 19 – The Simpsons cartoon first appears as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.

April 27 – The United States Department of Justice declares incumbent Austrian president Kurt Waldheim an “undesirable alien.”

April 30 – Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the Provincial Premiers agree in principle to the Meech Lake Accord, which would bring Quebec into the constitution.

June 12 – During a visit to Berlin, Germany, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.

June 30 – Canada introduces a one-dollar coin, nicknamed the “Loonie.”

July 4 – A court in Lyon sentences former Gestapo boss Klaus Barbie to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity.

August 17 – Rudolf Hess is found dead in his cell in Spandau Prison. Hess, 93, is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself with an electrical flex. He was the last remaining prisoner at the complex, which is soon demolished.

September 28 – The second Star Trek TV series The Next Generation, premieres in syndication.

October 3 – The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement is reached, but still requires ratification. This agreement would be a precursor to NAFTA.

October 31 - The Reform Party of Canada is founded.

December 8 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

December 9 – Microsoft releases Windows 2.0.

January 9 – After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves the instant camera business.

January 20 – The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.

January 24 – The Voyager 2 space probe makes its first encounter with Uranus.

January 28 – Space Shuttle Challenger disaster – STS-51-L: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates 73 seconds after launch from the United States, killing the crew of seven astronauts, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.

February 11 – Human rights activist Natan Sharansky is released by the Soviet Union and leaves the country.

March 26 – An article in The New York Times charges that Kurt Waldheim, former United Nations Secretary-General and candidate for president of Austria, may have been involved in Nazi war crimes during World War II.

April 13 – Pope John Paul II officially visits the Great Synagogue of Rome, the first time a modern Pope has visited a synagogue.

April 17– The Hindawi affair begins when an Irishwoman is found unknowingly carrying explosives onto an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv.

April 21 – Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's secret vault on The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, discovering only a bottle of moonshine.

April 26 – A mishandled safety test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union "killed at least 4056 people and damaged almost $7 billion of property

May 9 – Short Circuit starring Fisher Stevens is released.

May 24 – The Montreal Canadiens win their 23rd Stanley Cup In Calgary against the Flames.

June 4 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top-secret United States military intelligence to Israel.

July 23 – In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.

September 21 – Editor of Kol Echad ties the knot; marries Lisa Small.

October 16 – The International Olympic Committee chooses Albertville, France to be the host city of the 1992 Winter Olympics and Barcelona, Spain to be the host city of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The IOC also announces that the summer and winter games will separate with the winter games on every even, common year; and the summer games on every even, leap year starting from 1992.

February 16– Israel begins withdrawing troops from Lebanon.

March 11– Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union.

March 21 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist Rick Hansen sets out on his 40,000 km, 26 month Man in Motion tour, which raises $26M for spinal cord research and quality of life initiatives.

April 10 – Madonna launches her Virgin Tour, her first concert tour, in New York City.

April 23 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke (the response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months).

June 6 – The remains of Josef Mengele, the physician notorious for Nazi human experimentation on inmates of Auschwitz concentration camp, buried in 1979 under the name of Wolfgang Gerhard, are exhumed in Embu das Artes, Brazil.

July 3 – Back to the Future opens in American theatres and ends up being the highest grossing film of 1985 in the United States and the first film in the successful franchise.

July 13–U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush serves as Acting President for eight hours, while President Ronald Reagan undergoes colon cancer surgery at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

July 19– U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

September 11– Pete Rose becomes the all-time hit leader in Major League Baseball, with his 4,192nd hit at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

October 1 – The Israeli air force bombs PLO Headquarters near Tunis.

October 7 – The cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by 4 heavily armed Palestinian terrorists. One passenger, American Leon Klinghoffer, is killed.

October 18 – The first Nintendo home video game console in United States is released as the Nintendo Entertainment System.

November 20 – Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.

1984
FHL Presidents Allen Goldberg/Stan Horowitz
Prime Ministers Pierre Trudeau/John Turner/Brian Mulroney
Ontario Premier Bill Davis

January 24 – Apple Computer places the Macintosh personal computer on sale in the United States.

February 8–19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held in Sarajevo, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

February 13 – Konstantin Chernenko succeeds the late Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

February 29 – Canadian prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, announces his retirement.

May 19 – The Edmonton Oilers win The Stanley Cup, beating the defending champion New York Islanders in four games to one.

June 4 – Bruce Springsteen release's his 7th album Born in the U.S.A.

June 8– Ghostbusters is released.

June 16 – The world-renowned, critically acclaimed Canadian entertainment company, Cirque du Soleil is founded.

June 30 – John Turner becomes Canada's 17th prime minister.

July 23 – Vanessa L. Williams becomes the first Miss America to resign when she surrenders her crown, after nude photos of her appear in Penthouse magazine.

July 28–August 12 – The 1984 Summer Olympics are held in Los Angeles, California.

August 11 – United States President Ronald Reagan, during a voice check for a radio broadcast remarks, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes".

August 30 – The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.

September 4 – The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, led by Brian Mulroney, wins 211 seats in the Canadian House of Commons, forming the largest majority government in Canadian history.

September 10 – Jeopardy! begins its syndicated version.

September 14 – P. W. Botha is inaugurated as the first executive State President of South Africa.

September 17 – Brian Mulroney is sworn in as Prime Minister of Canada.

September 20 – Hezbollah car bombs the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut, killing 24 people.

September 26 – The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China sign the initial agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.

October 5 – Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

October 11 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a spacewalk.

October 31 – Minister of India Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her two Sikh security guards in New Delhi.

November 6 – United States presidential election, 1984: Ronald Reagan defeats Walter F. Mondale with 59% of the popular vote, the highest since Richard Nixon's 61% popular vote victory in 1972.

November 25 – Band Aid (assembled by Bob Geldof) records the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in London to raise money to combat the famine in Ethiopia. It is released on December 3.

December 4 – Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane and kill four passengers.

January 1 - The metric system of weights and measures is officially adopted by the federal government although Imperial units are still used.

January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the true Internet).

January 10 – Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States launch Fraggle Rock, a worldwide program advocating peace.

January 19 – High-ranking Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia.

February 1 - Pay television begins operating in Canada.

February 6 – Klaus Barbie is officially charged with war crimes.

February 28 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, setting a record for most watched television episode and reaching a total audience estimated at 125 million.

March 22 – The Israeli Knesset elects Chaim Herzog as President of Israel, by a majority of 61 to 57 against Menachem Elon.

March 23 – Strategic Defense Initiative: U.S. President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles. The media dub this plan "Star Wars".

March 25 – Motown celebrates its 25th anniversary with the television special Motown 25, during which Michael Jackson performs "Billie Jean" and introduces the moonwalk.

April 4 – First flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

April 13 – California's largest retailer Target Corporation expands into California, opening 11 stores.

April 15 – Tokyo Disneyland opens.

May 5– Chaim Herzog assumes office as the 6th president of the State of Israel.

May 17 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

May 25 – Return of the Jedi opens in theatres.

June 9 – Britain's Conservative government, led by Margaret Thatcher, is re-elected by a landslide majority.

June 11 - Brian Mulroney replaces Joe Clark as leader of Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

June 13 – Pioneer 10 passes the orbit of Neptune, becoming the first man-made object to leave the vicinity of the major planets of the Solar System.

June 18 – Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-7 mission.

August 28 – Menachem Begin announces his retirement from politics.

September 16 – President Ronald Reagan announces that the Global Positioning System (GPS) will be made available for civilian use.

November 2 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: At the White House Rose Garden, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating a federal holiday on the third Monday of every January to honor American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. It is first observed in 1986.

November 3 – The Reverend Jesse Jackson announces his candidacy for the 1984 United States' Democratic Party presidential nomination.

November 11 – Ronald Reagan becomes the first U.S. President to address the National Diet, Japan's national legislature.

November 20 – The Day After airs on ABC.

December 2 – Michael Jackson's Thriller video is aired on MTV for the first time.

December 23 - Jeanne Sauvé is appointed Canada's first female Governor General.

January 7 – The Commodore 64 8-bit home computer is launched by Commodore International in Las Vegas; it becomes the all-time best-selling single personal computer model.

February 3 – Syrian president Hafez al-Assad orders the army to purge the city of Harran of the Muslim Brotherhood.

March 29 – Royal Assent is given to the Canada Act 1982, setting the stage for the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution on April 17.

April 2 – The Falklands War begins: Argentina invades and occupies the Falkland Islands.

April 17 – By Proclamation of the Queen Elizabeth on Parliament Hill, Canada patriates its constitution, gaining full political independence from the United Kingdom. The country’s first entrenched bill of rights is included.

April 25 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in accordance with the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty of 1979.

May 2 – The Weather Channel airs on cable television for the first time.

May 5 – A Unabomber bomb explodes in the computer science department at Vanderbilt University.

May 8 – French-Canadian racing driver Gilles Villeneuve is killed during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

May 16 – The New York Islanders sweep the Vancouver Canucks in four games to win the 1982 Stanley Cup Final.

June 6 – The 1982 Lebanon War begins: Forces under Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon invade southern Lebanon in their "Operation Peace for the Galilee," eventually reaching as far north as the capital Beirut.

June 6 – The United Nations Security Council votes to demand that Israel withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

June 11– U.S. release date of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which would become the biggest box-office hit for the rest of the decade (and beyond).

June 12 – The Nuclear Disarmament Rally, an event against nuclear weapon proliferation, draws 750,000 to New York City's Central Park. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Linda Ronstadt attend. An international convocation at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine features prominent peace activists from around the world and afterward participants march on Fifth Avenue to Central Park for the rally.

June 21 – Prince William is born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London.

July 4 – Four Iranian diplomats are kidnapped upon Israel's invasion of Lebanon.

July 6 – A lunar eclipse (umbral duration 236 min and total duration 106 min, the longest of the 20th century) occurs.

July 23 – On a movie set, the Twilight Zone actor Vic Morrow and two child actors die in a helicopter stunt accident.

August 4 – The United Nations Security Council votes to censure Israel because its troops are still in Lebanon.

August 17 – The first compact discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany. August 20 – Lebanese Civil War: A multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO withdrawal from Lebanon. French troops arrive August 21, U.S. Marines August 25.

September 18 – The Lebanese Christian militia (the Phalange) kill thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps with the overlooking of Israeli troops in West Beirut. The massacre is in retaliation for the assassination of pro-Israel president-elect, Bachir Gemayel, as well as several Palestinian massacres against Lebanese Christians.

September 25 – In Israel, 400,000 marchers demand the resignation of Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

October 1 – In Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney World opens the second largest theme park, EPCOT Center, to the public for the first time.

October 1 – Sony launches the first consumer compact disc (CD) player (model CDP-101).

October 27 – In Canada, Dominion Day is officially renamed Canada Day.

November 12 – In the Soviet Union, former KGB head Yuri Andropov is selected to become the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding the late Leonid I. Brezhnev.

November 13 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.

November 28 –The Edmonton Eskimos win an unprecedented fifth consecutive Grey Cup, a feat yet unaccomplished by any professional football franchise to win the 70th Grey Cup defeating the Toronto Argonauts 32-16.

November 30 – Michael Jackson releases Thriller, the biggest selling album of all time.

December 11 – Pop group ABBA make their final public performance.

December 26 – Time magazine's Man of the Year is given for the first time to a non-human, the computer.

January 1 – in Canada, gasoline and diesel are sold by the litre rather than the gallon.

January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days within minutes of Ronald Reagan.

succeeding Jimmy Carter as the 40th President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis.

January 21 – The first DeLorean DMC-12 automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.

March 30 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.; 2 police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded.

April 12 – The Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia with NASA astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen launches on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14. It is the first time a manned reusable spacecraft has returned from orbit.

May 11 – Bob Marley, dies aged 36 from cancer.

May 13 – Pope John Paul II is shot and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali A?ca, a Turkish gunman who is allegedly on orders from the Soviet KGB to shoot him, as he enters St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to address a general audience. The Pope successfully recovers.

June 5 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 5 homosexual men in Los Angeles have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (the first recognized cases of AIDS).

June 7 – The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor killing ten Iraqi troops and a French technician.

June 12 – Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is released in theaters.

July 17 -Israeli aircraft bomb Beirut, destroying multi-story apartment blocks containing the offices of PLO associated groups, killing approximately 300 civilians and resulting in worldwide condemnation and a U.S. embargo on the export of aircraft to Israel.

July 29 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

August 1 – The first 24-hour video music channel MTV (Music Television) is launched.

August 9 – Major League Baseball resumes from the strike with the All-Star Game in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.

August 24 – Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, after pleading guilty to murdering John Lennon in Manhattan 8 months earlier.

September 19 – Simon & Garfunkel perform The Concert in Central Park, a free concert in New York in front of approximately half a million people.

October 2 – English rock band The Police releases Ghost in the Machine.

October 5 – Raoul Wallenberg becomes a posthumously honorary citizen of the United States.

October 6 – Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a parade by army members who belong to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization; they opposed his negotiations with Israel.

October 14 – Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt, one week after Anwar Sadat was assassinated.

November 13 – The Canadarm is first deployed aboard the Space Shuttle

November 22 – The Edmonton Eskimos barely stave off defeat and win a record 4th consecutive Grey Cup, at the 69th Grey Cup at Montréal's Olympic Stadium defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 26-23 in the final 3 seconds; after being down 20-1 at halftime.

December 11 - Boxing: Muhammad Ali loses to Trevor Berbick; this proves to be Ali's last-ever fight.

January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.

January 9 – In Saudi Arabia, 63 Islamist insurgents are beheaded for their part in the siege of the Great Mosque in Mecca in November 1979.

January 22 – Andrei Sakharov, Soviet scientist and human rights activist, is arrested in Moscow.

January 26 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.

January 28 - Canadian ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor, organizes the escape of six American dilomats from Iran.

March 3 – Pierre Trudeau returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.

March 21 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

April 7 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Iran and imposes economic sanctions, following the taking of American hostages on November 4, 1979.

April 12 – Terry Fox begins his Marathon of Hope from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. April 24–25 – Operation Eagle Claw, a commando mission in Iran to rescue American embassy hostages, is aborted after mechanical problems ground the rescue helicopters. Eight United States troops are killed in a mid-air collision during the failed operation.

April 30 – Iranian Embassy siege: Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London, UK. SAS retakes the Embassy on May 5; one terrorist survives.

May 18 – The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens kills 57 and causes US$3 billion in damage.

May 20 – 1980 Quebec referendum: Voters in Quebec reject by a vote of 60% a proposal to seek independence from Canada.

May 21 – Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released.

May 24 –The New York Islanders win their first Stanley Cup, from a goal by Bobby Nystrom in game six overtime of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals over the Philadelphia Flyers.

June 1 – The first 24-hour news channel Cable News Network (CNN) is launched.

June 9 – In Los Angeles, comedian Richard Pryor is badly burned trying to freebase cocaine.

July 1 – "O Canada" becomes the official national anthem

July 16 – Former California Governor and actor Ronald Reagan is nominated for U.S. President, at the 1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit. Influenced by the Religious Right, the convention also drops its long-standing support for the Equal Rights Amendment, dismaying moderate Republicans.

July 30 – Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.

August 14 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter defeats Senator Edward Kennedy to win renomination, at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City.

August 14 – Dorothy Stratten, the 1980 Playboy Playmate of the Year is murdered by estranged husband Paul Leslie Snider, who subsequently commits suicide.

August 31 – Victory of the strike in Gda?sk Shipyard, Poland. The Gda?sk Agreement is signed, opening a way to start the first in the communist bloc free organization (not controlled by regime) "Solidarno??" i.e. Solidarity.

September 1 – Terry Fox is forced to end his Marathon of Hope run outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario, after finding out that the cancer has spread to his lungs.

October 6 – Trudeau announces his plan to patriate the Canadian constitution unilaterally October 31 – Reza Pahlavi, eldest son of the Shah of Iran, proclaims himself the rightful successor to the Peacock Throne.

November 4 – United States presidential election, 1980: Republican challenger and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California defeats incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter, exactly 1 year after the beginning of the Iran hostage crisis.

November 21 –- A fire at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip kills 85 people.

November 21 –- A then-record number of viewers (for an entertainment program) tune into the U.S. soap opera Dallas to learn who shot lead character J. R. Ewing. The "Who shot J.R.?" event is an international obsession.

December 8 – John Lennon is shot dead outside his apartment in New York City by Mark David Chapman.

January 5 – Queen releases "Don't Stop Me Now". It becomes one of their most popular singles.

January 7 – Vietnam and Vietnam-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreat west to an area along the Thai border..

January 16 – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran with his family, relocating to Egypt after a year of turmoil..

February 1 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile..

February 7 – Supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini take over the Iranian law enforcement, courts and government administration; the final session of the Iranian National Consultative Assembly is held..

February 7 – Nazi criminal Josef Mengele suffers a stroke and drowns while swimming in Bertioga, Brazil. His remains are found in 1985..

February 10 – February 11 – The Iranian army mutinies and joins the Islamic Revolution. February 11 – Ayatollah Khomeini seizes power in Iran, overthrowing Mohammad Rez? Sh?h Pahlavi..

February 18 – The Sahara Desert experiences snow for 30 minutes..

March 25 – The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the Kennedy Space Center, to be prepared for its first launch..

March 26 – In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign a peace treaty..

March 28 – America's most serious nuclear power plant accident occurs, at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania..

April 1 – Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially..

May 4: Margaret Thatcher becomes that country's first female prime minister.

June 4 – Joe Clark becomes Canada’s 16th and youngest Prime Minister..

July 9 – A car bomb destroys a Renault owned by Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility..

July 16 – Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam Hussein replaces him..

August 10 – Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album Off the Wall. It sells 7 million copies in the United States alone, making it a 7x platinum album..

September 1 – The U.S. Pioneer 11 becomes the first spacecraft to visit Saturn, when it passes the planet at a distance of 21,000 km..

September 7 – The first cable sports channel, ESPN, known as the Entertainment Sports Programming Network, is launched..

September 22 – The South Atlantic Flash is observed near the Prince Edward Islands, thought to be a nuclear weapons test conducted by South Africa and Israel..

November 1 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini urges his people to demonstrate on November 4 and to expand attacks on United States and Israeli interests..

October 21– Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government. Dayan stated that he felt isolated from the Palestinian autonomy talks and was reduced to handling marginal foreign policy chores.

November 4 – Iran hostage crisis begins: 3,000 Iranian radicals, mostly students, invade the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take 90 hostages (53 of whom are American). They demand that the United States send the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial..

November 7 – U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy announces that he will challenge President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination..

November 10 – Mississauga train derailment: A 106-car Canadian Pacific freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals from Windsor, Ontario, Canada derails in Mississauga, causing a massive explosion and the largest peacetime evacuation in Canadian history and one of the largest in North American history..

November 12– Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all oil imports into the United States from Iran..

November 14 – Iran hostage crisis: U.S. President Jimmy Carter issues Executive Order 12170, freezing all Iranian assets in the United States and U.S. banks in response to the hostage crisis..

November 17 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and African American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran..

December 3 – Eleven fans are killed during a crowd crush for unreserved seats before The Who rock concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati..

December 6 – The world premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C..

December 9 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two human diseases that have been driven to extinction..

December 13 - The government is defeated on a non-confidence motion and Prime Minister Clark calls an election..

December 24 – The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, and Babrak Karmal replaces overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin, which begins the war.

January 14 – January 15 – The body of former U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda, following his death from cancer.

February 1 – Hollywood film director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.

February 15 – Rhodesia, one of only two remaining white-ruled African nations (the other being South Africa), announces that it will accept multiracial democracy within 2 years.

February 16 –The first computer bulletin board system (CBBS) is created in Chicago.

March 11 – Coastal Road massacre: Palestinian terrorists kill 34 Israelis.

March 14 – Operation Litani: Israeli forces invade Lebanon.

April 2 – Dallas debuted on CBS and gave birth to the modern day primetime soap opera.

April 3 – The 50th Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles with Annie Hall winning Best Picture.

April 10 – Volkswagen becomes the second (after Rolls-Royce) non-American automobile manufacturer to open a plant in the United States, commencing production of the Rabbit, the North American version of the Volkswagen Golf.

April 19 – The Israeli Knesset elects Yitzhak Navon as President of Israel

May 5 – Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets his 3,000th major league hit.

June 12 – Serial killer David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam," is sentenced to 365 years in prison.

June 15 – King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.

June 16 – Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John is released.

August 6 – Pope Paul VI dies in Castel Gandolfo.

August 26 – Pope John Paul I succeeds Pope Paul VI as the 263rd Pope.

September 6 – Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter, and Menachem Begin meet on the Aspen Cabin patio at Camp David.

September 5 – Camp David Accords: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin the peace process at Camp David, Maryland.

September 17 – The Camp David Accords are signed between Israel and Egypt.

September 28 – Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days of papacy.

October 16 – Pope John Paul II succeeds Pope John Paul I as the 264th pope, resulting in the first Year of Three Popes since 1605. He is the first Polish pope in history, and the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI (1522–1523).

He will later die in 2005.

October 27 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin win the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.

November 5 – Rioters sack the British Embassy in Tehran.

November 18 – Jonestown incident: In Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple cult in a mass murder–suicide that claims 918 lives in all, 909 of them at Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is assassinated by members of Peoples Temple shortly beforehand.

December 15 – Superman is released in cinemas in the United States.

January 3 – Apple Computer is incorporated.

January 17 – Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah (the first execution after the reintroduction of the death penalty in the U.S.).

January 20 – Jimmy Carter succeeds Gerald Ford as the 39th President of the United States.

January 23 – Roots begins its phenomenally successful run on ABC.

January 26 – Katimavik is founded as a volunteer service organization for Canadian youths.

January 28 – The Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 hits Buffalo, New York, and the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario.

February 4 – Fleetwood Mac's Grammy-winning album Rumours is released.

February 6 - René Lévesque is embroiled in scandal after he, while driving in a car with a woman who is not his wife, hits and kills a homeless man.

February 15 – Space Shuttle program: First test taxi flight of Space Shuttle Enterprise.

May 12 – Portugal and Israel establish diplomatic relations.

May 17 – The Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, wins the national elections in Israel.

May 25 – George Lucas' Star Wars opens in cinemas and later becomes the historic highest grossing film for that time.

May 27 – Space Mountain opens at Disneyland and to this day remains as one of the parks most popular attractions.

June 10 – The first Apple II series computers go on sale.

June 12 – The Supremes perform their final concert together at Drury Lane in London, England and then disband permanently.

June 15 – Spain has its first democratic elections, after 41 years under the Franco regime.

June 26 – Elvis Presley holds his last concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

July 24 – Led Zeppelin presents its last American concert in Oakland, California, at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

August 3 – The Tandy Corporation TRS-80 Model I computer is announced at a press conference.

August 10 – David Berkowitz is captured in Yonkers, New York, after over a year of murders in New York City as the Son of Sam.

August 12 – The NASA Space Shuttle, named Enterprise, makes its first test free flight from the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.

August 16 – Elvis Presley, the "king of rock and roll", dies in his home in Graceland at age 42. 75,000 fans line the streets of Memphis for his funeral.

August 19 – Groucho Marx, comedic legend, star of stage and screen, dies of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, at the age of 86 (born 1890).

August 26 – The National Assembly of Quebec passes the Charter of the French Language (Law 101, La charte de la langue française) making French the official language of the Canadian province of Quebec.

September 3 - September 5 - All Canadian road signs are converted to metric units.

September 5 – Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.

September 7 – Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The U.S. agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.

September 11 – Atari, Inc. releases its Video Computer System in North America.

September 29 – Singer-songwriter Billy Joel releases his fifth studio album The Stranger; it becomes the first of several hit albums, spawning five hit singles.

October 13 – German Autumn: Four Palestinians hijack Lufthansa Flight 181 to Somalia and demand the release of 11 Red Army Faction members.

October 14– The Atari 2600 game system is released.

October 18 – Reggie Jackson blasts 3 home runs to lead the New York Yankees to a World Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

November 10 – The Bee Gees release the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, which will go on to become the then bestselling album of all time.

November 19 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to make an official visit to Israel, when he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, seeking a permanent peace settlement.

November 22 – The TCP/IP test succeeds, connecting 3 ARPANET nodes (of 111), in what eventually becomes the Internet protocol.

December 16 – The movie Saturday Night Fever is released in theaters and becoming the biggest dancing movie of all time and launches the career of its star John Travolta and the Bee Gees who performed many songs on its soundtrack to superstardom.

December 25 – Comedian Charlie Chaplin, silent film actor dies in his sleep at his home at the Manoir de Ban in Vevey, Switzerland at the age of 88.

December 25 – Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat.

January 14 - The Eaton's catalogue is discontinued.

January 27 – The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state.

February 4 – The 1976 Winter Olympics begin in Innsbruck, Austria.

March 26 – The Toronto Blue Jays are created.

March 31 – The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that coma patient Karen Ann Quinlan can be disconnected from her ventilator. She remains comatose and dies in 1985.

April 1 – Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

May 31 – Syria intervenes in the Lebanese Civil War in opposition to the Palestine Liberation Organization, whom it had previously supported.

June 26 – The CN Tower is built in Toronto; the tallest freestanding land structure opens to the public.

June 27 – Palestinian militants hijack an Air France plane in Greece with 246 passengers and 12 crew. They take it to Entebbe, Uganda.

June 30 - Parliament votes to abolish the death penalty.

July 4 –The United States celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

July 4 – Entebbe Raid: Israeli airborne commandos free 103 hostages being held by Palestinian hijackers of an Air France plane at Uganda's Entebbe Airport; Yonatan Netanyahu and several Ugandan soldiers are killed in the raid.

July 17 – The 1976 Summer Olympics begin in Montreal, Canada.

July 27 – Delegates attending an American Legion convention at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, US, begin falling ill with a form of pneumonia: this will eventually be recognised as the first outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and will end in the deaths of 29 attendees.

July 29 – In New York City, the "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag, killing one and seriously wounding another, in the first of a series of attacks that terrorize the city for the next year.

August 1 – The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago becomes a republic, replacing Elizabeth II with President Ellis Clarke as its head of state.

August 5 – The Great Clock of Westminster (or Big Ben) suffers internal damage and stops running for over 9 months.

August 7 – Viking program: Viking 2 enters into orbit around Mars.

August 26 –The first known outbreak of Ebola virus occurs in Yambuku, Zaire.

September 3 – Viking program: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars, taking the first close-up color photos of the planet's surface.

September 6 – Frank Sinatra brings Jerry Lewis's former partner Dean Martin onstage, unannounced, at the 1976 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon in Las Vegas, reuniting the comedy team for the first (and only) time in over 20 years.

September 9 – Chairman Mao Zedong, of the People's Republic of China, dies of a heart attack.

September 13 – The Muppet Show is broadcast for the first time on ITV.

September 17 – The space shuttle Enterprise is rolled out of a Palmdale, California hangar.

September 24 – Patty Hearst is sentenced to 7 years in prison for her role in a 1974 bank robbery (an executive clemency order from U.S. President Jimmy Carter will set her free after only 22 months).

September 28 – American singer Stevie Wonder releases his hit album Songs in the Key of Life.

November 2 – U.S. presidential election, 1976: Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent Gerald Ford, becoming the first candidate from the Deep South to win since the Civil War.

November 25 - René Lévesque becomes premier of Quebec, replacing Robert Bourassa.

December 3 – Bob Marley and his manager Don Taylor are shot in an assassination attempt in Kingston, Jamaica.

December 8 – Hotel California by the Eagles is released.

FHL Presidents Stanley Penzer/Gary Pollock
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Ontario Premier Bill Davis

January 15 – Steel roller coaster Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom) opens at Walt Disney World in Florida, becoming one of the park’s most popular attractions.

February 11 – Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for the leadership of the opposition UK Conservative Party. Thatcher, 49, is Britain’s first female leader of any political party.

February 23 – In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the United States.

March 24 – The beaver becomes an official symbol of Canada.

September 5 – In Sacramento, Calif., Lynette Fromme, a follower of jailed cult leader Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford. She is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.

September 4 – The Sinai Interim Agreement is signed between Israel and Egypt in Geneva.

September 22 – U.S. President Gerald Ford survives a second assassination attempt, this time by Sara Jane Moore in San Francisco.

October 1 – Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in a boxing match in Manila, Philippines.

October 11 – NBC airs the first episode of Saturday Night Live (George Carlin is the first host; Billy Preston and Janis Ian the first musical guests).

November 10 – United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379: By a vote of 72–35 (with 32 abstentions), the United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism. The resolution provokes an outcry among Jews around the world. It is repealed in 1991.

November 10 – The 729-foot-long freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crewmembers on board (an event immortalized in song by Gordon Lightfoot).

November 18 – The wearing of seatbelts is made mandatory in Ontario.

April 5 – Stephen King publishes Carrie, his first novel.

April 6 – Swedish pop group ABBA win the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo.

April 8 – Hank Aaron became the all-time MLB home run leader with his 715th at Atlanta in front of a national television audience.

April 11 – The Kiryat Shmona massacre takes place in Israel.

April 15 – As "Tania", Patty Hearst is photographed wielding an M1 carbine while robbing the Sunset District branch of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco.

May 19 – The Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Boston Bruins to become the first team from the 1967 NHL expansion class to win the Stanley Cup in the North American National Hockey League.

May 23 - New Brunswick becomes the first province to be officially bilingual.

August 8 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (effective August 9).

August 9 – Vice President Gerald Ford succeeds Richard Nixon as the 38th President of the United States of America.

November 22 – The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.

November 24 – A skeleton from the hominid species Australopithecus afarensis is discovered and named Lucy.

November 28 – In a rare public performance, former Beatle John Lennon joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

January 14 – Elvis Presley's concert in Hawaii is the first worldwide telecast by an entertainer, that is watched by more people than watched the Apollo moon landings.

Super Bowl VII: The Miami Dolphins defeat the Washington Redskins, 14–7, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, to complete the NFL's first Perfect Season in front of 90,182 fans.

January 20 – U.S. President Richard Nixon is inaugurated for his second term.

January 21 – The Communist League is founded in Denmark.

January 22 – Roe v. Wade: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns state bans on abortion.

January 22 – George Foreman defeats Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight world boxing championship.

January 23 – U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.

January 27 – U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords with 95% of troops leaving the country.

February 5 – Construction on the CN Tower begins in Toronto.

March 1 January 22 – Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, one of rock's landmark albums, is released in the US. It is released in the UK on March 24.

March 12 – Last episode of original Laugh-In airs on NBC. The show will continue with re-runs until May 14, 1973.

March 27 - At the 45th Academy Awards, The Godfather wins best picture.

April 3 – The first handheld mobile phone call is made by Martin Cooper of Motorola in New York City.

April 4 – The World Trade Center officially opens in New York City with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

April 10 – Israeli commandos raid Beirut, assassinating 3 leaders of the Palestinian Resistance Movement. The Lebanese army's inaction brings the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Saib Salam, a Sunni Muslim.

April 30 – Watergate scandal: President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aides H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and others have resigned.

May 3 – The Sears Tower in Chicago is finished, becoming the world's tallest building at 1,451 feet.

May 10 –The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup 4 games to 2 over the Chicago Blackhawks, Yvan Cournoyer was voted MVP.

May 14 – Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.

May 19 – Secretariat wins the Preakness Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths over the amazingly quick 2nd placed Sham. A malfunction in the track's timing equipment prevented a confirmed new track record.

June 9 – Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes shattering the record by an unbelievable 2 3/5ths seconds, becoming the first Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winner since 1948.

September 20 – Singer-songwriter Jim Croce dies following a gig at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

October 6 – Yom Kippur War begins: The fourth and largest Arab–Israeli conflict begins, as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur.

October 10 – Spiro T. Agnew resigns as Vice President of the United States and then, in federal court in Baltimore, pleads no contest to charges of income tax evasion on $29,500 he received in 1967, while he was governor of Maryland. He is fined $10,000 and put on three years' probation.

October 17 – An OPEC oil embargo against several countries supporting Israel triggers the 1973 energy crisis.

October 26 – The Yom Kippur War ends.

November 11 – Egypt and Israel sign a United States-sponsored cease-fire accord.

November 17 – Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."

December 25 - Movie premier for The Sting starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman in Manhattan.

January 1 – Kurt Waldheim becomes Secretary-General of the United Nations.

January 3 – MGM's 1951 Show Boat is presented on television by NBC for the first time. This marks the first complete network telecast of any version of Show Boat (it had already been filmed as a part-talkie in 1929, and as a full-sound musical in 1936).

January 4 – The first scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).

January 5 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.

February 3 – February 13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.

February 5 – U.S. airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage.

February 21 – February 28 – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.

March 1 – The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made satellite to leave the solar system.

March 24 – The Godfather is released in cinemas in the United States.

April 16 – Apollo 16 (John Young, Ken Mattingly, Charlie Duke) is launched. During the mission, the astronauts achieve a lunar rover speed record of 18 km/h.

April 17 – The first Boston Marathon in which women are officially allowed to compete.

May 30 – Three Japanese Red Army members kill 24 and injure 100 in Lod Airport, Israel.

June 3 – Sally Priesand becomes the first female U.S. rabbi.

June 17 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee.

June 23 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the F.B.I.'s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.

July 18 – Anwar Sadat expels 20,000 Soviet advisors from Egypt.

July 21 – Global Television begins broadcasting in Ontario

July 21 – Comedian George Carlin is arrested by Milwaukee police for public obscenity, for reciting his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" at Summerfest.

September 1 – Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match in Reykjavík, Iceland, becoming the first American world chess champion.

September 4 – The first episode of The Price Is Right is aired on CBS by Bob Barker. Gambit and The Joker's Wild also premiere.

September 5 – September 6 – Munich massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after eight members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; five guerillas and one policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.

September 19 – A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat.

September 28 – The Canadian national men's hockey team defeats the Soviet national ice hockey team in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series.

October 30 – Federal election: Pierre Trudeau's Liberals win a minority

November 7 – U.S. presidential election, 1972: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide (the election had the lowest voter turnout since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting).

November 8 – the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, HBO, is launched.

November 29 – Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of their seminal arcade version of Pong, the first game to achieve commercial success.

December 7 – Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last manned Moon mission to date, is launched and "The Blue Marble" photograph of the Earth is taken.

December 11– Apollo 17 lands on the Moon.

December 14 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.

December 19 – Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.

FHL Presidents Michael Wolburgh/Harry Warga
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Ontario Premiers John Robarts/Bill Davis

January 17 – The Baltimore Colts defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13, in Super Bowl V.

January 25 – In Los Angeles, Charles Manson and three female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.

February 5 – Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.

February 8 – A new stock market index called the Nasdaq Composite debuts.

February 16 - The Fuddle Duddle incident. Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau was alleged to have spoken or at least mouthed unparliamentary language in the House of Commons, causing a minor scandal. Trudeau mentioned the words "fuddle duddle" in an ambiguous answer to questions about what he may or may not have said in Parliament.

February 28 – Evel Knievel sets a world record and jumps 19 cars in Ontario, California.

March 1 – John Robarts ends his term of office as the 17th Premier of Ontario.

March 4 – The southern part of Quebec, and especially Montreal, receive 16½" (42 cm) of snow in what becomes known as the Century's Snowstorm (la tempête du siècle).

March 8 –'Fight of the Century': Boxer Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden.

March 12 – Hafez al-Assad becomes president of Syria.

March 28 – The Ed Sullivan Show airs its final episode.

April 17 –Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.

May 15 – Efraim Elrom, Israeli ambassador to Turkey, is kidnapped; he is found killed in Istanbul May 25.

May 18 – The Montréal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canadiens became only the second team in NHL history to win the Cup in game 7 on the road. This also marked the last NHL game that the late Jean Béliveau played.

May 22 - Ontario Place opens in Toronto

June 1 - Census Day for the 1971 Census of Canada, which finds Canada's total population to be 21,568,311.

June 3 - The controversial Spadina Expressway project is cancelled

July 3 – Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors is found dead in his bathtub in Paris, France.

July 4 – Michael S. Hart posts the first e-book, a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, on the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's mainframe computer, the origin of Project Gutenberg.

July 13 – Jordanian army troops launch an offensive against Palestinian guerillas in Jordan.

July 19 – The South Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,362 feet (415 m), making it the second tallest building in the world.

August 30 – The Progressive Conservatives under Peter Lougheed defeat the Social Credit government under Harry E. Strom in a general election, ending 36 years of uninterrupted power for Social Credit in Alberta.

September 9 – September 13 – Attica Prison riots: – A revolt breaks out at the maximum-security prison in Attica, New York. In the end, state police and the United States National Guard storm the facility; 42 are killed, 10 of them hostages.

October 1 – Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.

October 14 – Greenpeace is founded in Vancouver, Canada.

October 17 – The Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series in 7 games against the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates' Roberto Clemente, who turned into a one-man gang in the Series, becomes the first Latino player to earn World Series MVP honors. Game 4 of the Series is also the first night game ever to be played in the World Series.

October 25 – The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (or Taiwan).

November 1 - The Toronto Sun begins publication

November 15 – Intel releases the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.

November 28 – The 59th Grey Cup Game sees the Calgary Stampeders beat the Toronto Argonauts 14-11.

January 1 – The cities Fort William and Port Arthur are merged to create Thunder Bay, Ontario

January 14 – Diana Ross and The Supremes perform their farewell live concert together at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. Ross's replacement, Jean Terrell, is introduced onstage at the end of the last show.

January 16 – The federal government announces plans to convert the nation to the metric system

February 10 – An unsuccessful plane hijack attempt in which Palestinian Arab militants from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack a bus containing El Al passengers at Munich airport, killing one passenger and wounding 11.

February 14 – The iconic live album The Who: Live at Leeds is recorded.

March 15 – The Expo '70 World's Fair opens in Suita, Osaka, Japan.

March 20 – The Francophonie is established with Canada as a founding member.

April 1 – American President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States from January 1, 1971.

April 8 – Israeli Air Force F-4 Phantom II fighter bombers kill 47 Egyptian school children at an elementary school in what is known as Bahr el-Baqar massacre. The single-floor school is hit by five bombs and two air-to-ground missiles.

April 10 – In a press release written in mock-interview style, that is included in promotional copies of his first solo album, Paul McCartney announces that he has left the Beatles.

April 11 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert) is launched toward the Moon.

April 13 – An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission and return in 4 days.

April 17 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 splashes down safely in the Pacific.

May 8 – The Beatles release their 12th and final album, Let It Be.

May 10 – The Boston Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 1941 when Bobby Orr scores a goal 40 seconds into overtime for a 4-3 victory, which completes a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues.

June 7 – The Who become the first act to perform rock music (their rock opera, Tommy) at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.

June 13 – The Long and Winding Road becomes The Beatles 20th and final single to reach Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

July 4 – Longtime radio music countdown show American Top 40 debuts on five U.S. stations with Casey Kasem as host.

July 5 – Air Canada Flight 621 crashes at Toronto International Airport, Toronto. All 109 passengers and crew are killed.

July 21 – The Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.

June 26 - The federal voting age is lowered from 21 to 18

August 7 – The War of Attrition ends as a cease-fire agreement is reached.

September 1 – An assassination attempt against King Hussein of Jordan precipitates the Black September crisis.

September 9 – Elvis Presley begins his first concert tour since 1958 in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

September 18 – Jimi Hendrix dies in London from complications of a drug overdose.

September 19 – The Mary Tyler Moore Show, featuring its star as an unmarried professional woman, debuts on CBS.

September 21 – Monday Night Football debuts on ABC; the Cleveland Browns defeat the New York Jets 31-21 in front of more than 85,000 fans at Cleveland Stadium.

September 28 – Gamal Abdel Nasser dies; Vice President Anwar Sadat is named temporary president of Egypt.

September 29 – The U.S. Congress gives President Richard Nixon authority to sell arms to Israel.

October 4 – In Los Angeles, Rock and blues singer Janis Joplin dies in her hotel room, from an overdose of heroin.

October 5 – The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnaps James Cross in Montreal and demands release of all its imprisoned members. The next day the Canadian government announces it will not meet the demand, beginning Quebec's October Crisis.

October 8 – Soviet author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

October 10 – October Crisis: In Montreal, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.

October 13 – Canada and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations.

October 15 – In Egypt, a referendum supports Anwar Sadat 90.04%. The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Cincinnati Reds in Game 5 of the World Series, 9–3, to win the series 4 games to 1 for their 2nd World Championship.

October 16 – Pierre Trudeau introduces the War Measures Act to deal with the FLQ threat. Trudeau also addresses the nation in a televised speech explaining why he invoked the War Measures Act.

October 17 – The body of Pierre Laporte is found in the trunk of a car in south Montreal. Anwar Sadat officially becomes President of Egypt.

November 8 – Egypt, Libya and Sudan announce their intentions to form a federation.

November 9 – Charles de Gaulle dies; 63 heads of state attend his funeral.

November 13 – Hafez al-Assad comes to power in Syria, following a military coup within the Ba'ath Party.

November 21 – Syrian Prime Minister Hafez al-Assad forms a new government but retains the post of defense minister.

December 3 – October Crisis: In Montreal, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return, the Government of Canada grants 5 terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.

December 17 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,368 feet, making it the tallest building in the world.

December 28 – The suspected killers of Pierre Laporte, Jacques and Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.

December 31 – Paul McCartney sues in Britain to dissolve The Beatles' legal partnership.

FHL Presidents David Galet/Michael Wolburgh
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Ontario Premier John Robarts

January 12 – Led Zeppelin, the first Led Zeppelin album, is released.
The New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, 16-7. Joe Namath is the MVP of the game.

January 20 – Richard Milhous Nixon succeeds Lyndon Baines Johnson as the 37th President of the United States of America.

January 26 – Elvis Presley steps into American Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, recording "Long Black Limousine," thus beginning the recording of what becomes his landmark comeback sessions for the albums From Elvis in Memphis and Back in Memphis. The sessions yield the popular and critically acclaimed singles "Suspicious Minds", "In the Ghetto", and "Kentucky Rain".

January 27 – Fourteen men, nine of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel.

January 30 – The Beatles give their last public performance, filming several tracks on the roof of Apple Records, London.

February 4 – In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is elected Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

February 8 – The last issue of The Saturday Evening Post hits magazine stands.

February 9 – The Boeing 747 makes its maiden flight.

February 13 – FLQ terrorists bomb the Stock Exchange in Montreal.

March 2– In Toulouse, France the first Concorde test flight is conducted.

March 3 – In a Los Angeles court, Sirhan Sirhan admits that he killed presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 (James McDivitt, David Scott, Rusty Schweickart) to test the lunar module.

March 10 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. (he later retracts his guilty plea).
The novel The Godfather by Mario Puzo is published.

March 17 – Golda Meir becomes the first female prime minister of Israel.

March 20 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married at Gibraltar, and proceed to their honeymoon "Bed-In" for peace in Amsterdam.

May 15 – An American teenager known as 'Robert R.' dies in St. Louis, Missouri, of a baffling medical condition. In 1984, it will be identified as the first confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America.

May 18 – Apollo program: Apollo 10 (Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan, John Young) is launched, on the full dress-rehearsal for the Moon landing.

May 22 –Apollo 10's lunar module flies to within 15,400 m of the Moon's surface.

May 25 – Midnight Cowboy, an X-rated, Oscar-winning John Schlesinger film, is released.

June 22 – Judy Garland dies of a drug overdose in her London home.

July 1 – Charles, Prince of Wales, is invested with his title at Caernarfon.

July 3 – Brian Jones, musician and founder of The Rolling Stones, drowns in his swimming pool at his home in Sussex, England.

July 7 – French is made equal to English throughout the Canadian national government.

July 8– A series of air battles takes place over the Golan Heights and Damascus, as part of the War of Attrition, during which seven Syrian MIGs are shot down.

July 16 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins) lifts off toward the first landing on the Moon.

July 18 – Chappaquiddick incident – Edward M. Kennedy drives off a bridge on his way home from a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign aide to his brother, dies in the early morning hours of July 19 in the submerged car.

July 20 – Apollo program: The lunar module Eagle lands on the lunar surface. An estimated 500 million people worldwide watch in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his historic first steps on the Moon at 10:56 pm ET (02:56 am UTC July 21), the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time.

July 24 – The Apollo 11 astronauts return from the first successful Moon landing, and are placed in biological isolation for several days, on the chance they may have brought back lunar germs. The airless lunar environment is later determined to preclude microscopic life.

July 25 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This starts the "Vietnamization" of the war.

August 9 – Followers of Charles Manson murder Sharon Tate, (who was 8 months pregnant), and her friends: Folgers coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Hollywood hairstylist Jay Sebring at the home of Tate and her husband, Roman Polanski, in Los Angeles. Also killed is Steven Parent, leaving from a visit to the Polanski's caretaker. More than 100 stab wounds are found on the victims, except for Parent, who had been shot almost as soon as the Manson Family entered the property.

August 10 – The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, wealthy Los Angeles businesspeople.

August 15–August 18 – The Woodstock Festival is held in upstate New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.

August 21 – Donald and Doris Fisher open the first Gap store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco.

September 2 – The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Centre, New York.

September 5 – Lieutenant William Calley is charged with 6 counts of premeditated murder, for the 1968 My Lai Massacre deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, Vietnam.

September 9 – Operation Raviv: During the War of Attrition, an IDF armored force is landed on the Egyptian shore of the Suez canal disguised as an Egyptian military force, inside six Egyptian tanks and three Egyptian armoured personnel carriers which had previously been captured by the IDF. Masquerading as an Egyptian force, the raiders meet no significant resistance. The IDF armored force raids Egyptian military bases along the west coast of the Gulf of Suez attacking Egyptian radar stations, military vehicles and other military targets. The Egyptian Army suffers an estimated 100-200 casualties and had 12 outposts destroyed. The Israeli forces suffers no losses.

September 22 – San Francisco Giant Willie Mays becomes the first player since Babe Ruth to hit 600 career home runs.

September 22 – September 25 – An Islamic conference in Rabat, Morocco, following the al-Aqsa Mosque fire (August 21), condemns the Israeli claim of ownership of Jerusalem.

September 23 – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance opens to limited release in the U.S.

September 26 – The Beatles release their Abbey Road album, receiving critical praise and enormous commercial success.

September 27- The Ontario Science Center in Toronto opens.

October 16 – The "miracle" New York Mets win the World Series, beating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1.

October 17 – Willard S. Boyle and George Smith invent the CCD at Bell Laboratories (30 years later, this technology is widely used in digital cameras).

October 29 – The first message is sent over ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet.

October 31 – Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

November 3 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon addresses the nation on television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity with the Vietnam War effort, and to support his policies. Vice President Spiro Agnew denounces the President's critics as 'an effete corps of impudent snobs' and 'nattering nabobs of negativism'.

November 10 – Sesame Street is broadcast for the first time, on the National Educational Television (NET) network.

November 12 – Vietnam War – My Lai Massacre: Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story.

November 14 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 12 (Pete Conrad, Richard Gordon, Alan Bean), the second manned mission to the Moon.

November 15 – Dave Thomas opens his first restaurant in a former steakhouse in downtown Columbus, Ohio. He names the chain Wendy's after his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou (nicknamed "Wendy" by her siblings).

November 19 – Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms"), becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.

November 21 – The first ARPANET link is established (the progenitor of the global Internet).

December 2 – The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its first passenger flight. It carries 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle, to New York City.

December 24 – Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate-LaBianca murder trial.

FHL Presidents Harry Basil/David Galet
Prime Ministers Lester B. Pearson / Pierre Trudeau
Ontario Premier John Robarts

January 14 – The Green Bay Packers defeat the Oakland Raiders by the score of 33-14 in Super Bowl II at the Miami Orange Bowl.

January 22 – Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuts on NBC.

January 25 – The Israeli submarine INS Dakar sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 69.

February 6 – February 18 – The 1968 Winter Olympics are held in Grenoble, France.

February 11 – Border clashes take place between Israel and Jordan.

February 11 – Madison Square Garden in New York City opens at its current location.

March 12 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson barely edges out anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire Democratic primary, a vote that highlights the deep divisions in the country, and the party, over Vietnam.

March 16 – Vietnam War – My Lai Massacre: American troops kill scores of civilians. The story will first become public in November 1969 and will help undermine public support for the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.

March 16 – U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy enters the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

March 31 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not seek re-election.

April 2 – The film 2001: A Space Odyssey premieres in Washington, D.C.

April 3 – The American movie Planet of the Apes is released in theaters.

April 4 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in major American cities, lasting for several days afterwards.

April 4 – Apollo program: Apollo-Saturn mission 502 (Apollo 6) is launched, as the second and last unmanned test-flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle.

April 6 – Pierre Trudeau wins 1968 Liberal Party leadership election.

May 2 – The Israel Broadcasting Authority commences television broadcasts.

May 14 – The grand opening of the Toronto-Dominion Centre is held.

June 5 – U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles by Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy dies from his injuries the next day.

June 12 – The film Rosemary's Baby premieres in the U.S.

July 17 – Saddam Hussein becomes Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in Iraq after a coup d'état.

July 23 – El Al Flight 426 hijacking: The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place, when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew members and 38 passengers is taken over by three terrorists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The aircraft, El Al Flight 426, which was en route from Rome to Tel Aviv, is diverted to Algiers by the hijackers. Negotiations with the hijackers lasted for 40 days. Both the hijackers and the passengers, including 21 Israeli hostages, were eventually freed.

June 25 – Federal election: Pierre Trudeau's Liberals win a majority.

July 1 – The laws creating Canada's Medicare system come into effect.

July 18 – The semiconductor company Intel is founded.

July 20 – The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.

July 25 – Pope Paul VI publishes the encyclical entitled Humanae Vitae, condemning birth control.

August 5–August 8 – The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida nominates Richard Nixon for U.S. President and Spiro Agnew for Vice President.

August 20–August 21 – The Prague Spring of political liberalization ends, as 750,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 6,500 tanks with 800 planes invade Czechoslovakia. It is dated as the biggest operation in Europe since WWII ended.

August 24 – France explodes its first hydrogen bomb.

August 22–August 30 – Police clash with anti-war protesters in Chicago, Illinois, outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which nominates Hubert Humphrey for U.S. President, and Edmund Muskie for Vice President. The riots and subsequent trials were an essential part of the activism of the Youth International Party.

September 14 – Detroit Tiger Denny McLain becomes the first baseball pitcher to win 30 games in a season since 1934. He remains the last to accomplish the feat.

September 20 – Hawaii 5-O debuts on CBS, and eventually becomes the longest-running crime show in television history, until Law & Order overtakes it in 2003.

September 24 – 60 Minutes debuts on CBS and is still on the air as of 2014.

October 10 – the Detroit Tigers win the 1968 World Series, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3.

October 11 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission (Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham). Mission goals include the first live television broadcast from orbit and testing the lunar module docking maneuver.

October 12–October 27 – The Games of the XIX Olympiad are held in Mexico City, Mexico.

October 15 – Led Zeppelin makes their first live performance, at Surrey University in England.

October 15 – The Mouvement Souveraineté-Association merges with the Ralliement National to create the Parti Québécois, René Lévesque is selected as the party's first leader.

November 5 – U.S. presidential election, 1968: Republican challenger Richard Nixon defeats the Democratic candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace.

November 14 – Yale University announces it is going to admit women.

November 17 – The Heidi Game: NBC cuts off the final 1:05 of an Oakland Raiders–New York Jets football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled Heidi. Fans are unable to see Oakland (which had been trailing 32–29) score 2 late touchdowns to win 43–32; as a result, thousands of outraged football fans flood the NBC switchboards to protest.

November 22 – The Beatles release their self-titled album popularly known as the White Album.

November 22 – "Plato's Stepchildren,” 12th episode of Star Trek 3rd season is aired, featuring the first-ever interracial kiss on U.S. national television between Lieutenant Uhura and Captain James T. Kirk.

December 24 – Apollo program: U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A. Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole. The crew also reads from Genesis.

December 26 – El Al Flight 253 attack: Two PFLP militants attack an attacked an El Al plane about to depart at the Athens International Airport, firing a submachine gun and throwing grenades at the plane as it sat on the runway warming up prior to take off. An Israeli mechanic was killed in the attack and two others were injured.

December 28 – Israeli forces launch an attack on Beirut airport, destroying more than a dozen aircraft.

Forestdale Heights President Harry Basil
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
Ontario Premier John Robarts

January 1: Several municipalities such as Forest Hill and Swansea are merged into Toronto.

March 25: After the death of Georges Vanier, Roland Michener becomes Governor General.

April 27: Expo 67 Official Opening Ceremony broadcast in colour live via satellite to an estimated worldwide audience of 700 million viewers and listeners.

April 28: Expo 67 opens to the public at 9:30 a.m. in Montreal.

May 2: The Toronto Maple Leafs win the sixth game of the Stanley Cup final over the Montreal Canadiens to win their last Stanley Cup to date.

May 21: B’nai Brith International signs charter to officially create Forestdale Heights Lodge.

June 5-10: The Six Day War. Israel launches defensive attacks against neighbouring Arab countries to safeguard its territory. In the end, Israel’s decisive victory included the capture of the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Old City of Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.

July 1: Canada celebrates its centennial.

July 24: During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! (Long live free Quebec!). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, was welcome by many francophone Quebecers, but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians and was voted as the top news story from Canada by newspaper and radio journalists.

July 30: The Caribbean community in Toronto stages the first Caribana, with only eight bands and 1,000 spectators.

October 17: Ontario election: John Robarts’s PCs win a seventh consecutive majority.

October 29: Expo 67 closes, setting attendance records.

November 5: Robert Stanfield becomes head of the federal Progressive Conservative Party

December 2: The Hamilton Tiger Cats defeat The Regina Roughriders 24 to 1 in the nation’s capital Ottawa.

December 14: Lester B. Pearson announces he will step down as prime minister early in the next year.